In the shadow of the Black Knight
by Zacharies Ringweaver
Summary: a knight's black past with a new title, who was the Black Knight and how did he come to be the way he is now? CHAPTER 23 UP!
1. Chapter 1: fall of Crimea

(A/N): None of the flashbacks seen here are based on actual events.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Please review!

Chapter 1: fall of Crimea

All around Lord Renning lay the corpses of his Crimean knights, the fresh blood mingling with that of their enemies. He gazed at the scene, the Crimean defenders against the Daein invaders. They had pushed him and his battalions back to the castle grounds, at the entrance of the Crimean castle, where they now must make a final stand. "How did it come to this?" he thought, "Why now?" The attack was like a lightning bolt, fast and powerful, and Crimea was ill prepared for such a sudden assault.

His mount neighed and rose on its hind legs as a Daein solider ran at them, his lance poised to strike down the beast. Renning immediately tuned the horse so that its side would face the opponent; he brandished his sword ready to strike the fool down. His mount easily dodged the lance, and Renning was offered a clear shot to the Daein soldier's face, which he gladly took. Another solider came at his left, this one was also on a mount. The sword knight charged at him full speed and attempted to slash his head off. Renning quickly parried the blow and cut the poor soldier's throat.

His mount trotted between the two fresh corpses that now lay on the field, their blood staining the white marble of the courtyard. He shouldn't have dazed like that, after all this was a battle! He would leave thoughts like this to later.

He heard a scream and saw a Crimean solider fall to a man in ebon armor, in his left hand was the most beautiful sword Renning had ever seen in his life. His red cape billowed fiercely in the breeze, strewn before him were the corpses of at least twenty Crimean soliders. "The black knight" he thought and charged after him. The black knight seemed to see him, but didn't do anything until the last minute when Renning struck. He parried the blow with such force that Renning fell of his mount. Renning quickly got to his feet, sword in hand, and turned to face his opponent, who still had his back turned to him. Renning ran at him at tried to run his blade into the armor-clad menace, the Black Knight turned and parried again. Renning stumbled as the Black knight stepped to the side, this time he tried a vertical swing down. The Black knight countered with a vertical slash going up, effectively knocking the sword out of Renning's hands. He then finished the combo by spinning around and defeating him with another vertical slash going down. Cutting through his collarbone and across his chest, destroying his lungs and heart.

Renning fell to his knees; Alondite had cleaved through his armor like a hot knife through butter. His opponent now loomed over him like an eclipse of doom, a shadow of the destruction and chaos that was to come. His final thoughts rested upon Crimea and what would become of it, as the cold hand of death came to take him and drag him away like so many of his fellows.

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Ashnard entered the throne room of the Crimean castle with a triumphant grin on his face. He walked over and took his seat on the throne of the late king, marveling at how comfortable it was compared to his own. It gave a woody creak as he shifted his weight on it; once he had gotten comfortable he looked around the chamber, and out into the hall. "Mine" he thought, "it's finally mine" he let out a horrendous, maniacal laugh.

The Black Knight entered the chamber and began walking toward the throne, "Ah!" Ashnard exclaimed, " Here's the man of the hour!"

The Black Knight came to the front of the throne, and bent down on one knee with his left hand balled into a fist across his chest. "Sire" was all he had to say.

" You have earned my praise, Black Knight. Well done! Marvelous even! I don't think I could have done a better job myself." Ashnard began with a chuckle, and then laughed again.

"Thank you sire" responded The Black Knight, masking the irritation in his voice.

General Petrine came through the open doors and bowed on sight of Ashnard in the same fashion of the Black Knight, saying, "sire" just as the Black Knight did.

"Petrine come in and congratulate your fellow general! He has won a marvelous victory for Daein!"

" Congratulations Black Knight" she said to the bowing figure with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

She turned to Ashnard, "sire, I have accomplished my mission"

Ashnard let out a hardy laugh, today really was a good day for him. "You have recovered my "mount"?

"Yes sire, he's in the dungeon waiting."

Ashnard came off the throne and stood next to the Black Knight, but did not signal him to get up. "Rest now my loyal servant," he said, "tomorrow I have another mission for you and I can't afford any failure."

" Yes sire" the armor clad figure replied, Ashnard signaled Petrine to get up and he left the chamber. Petrine soon followed, but turned and gave one last glance of jealousy to the rising knight.

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It was late at night, a clear sky as the moon rose full revealing it's true self. The Black Knight was a silhouette against the moonlight, the gusting wind made his crimson cape billow like a sail on the ocean. He stood with Ragnell sheathed at his side and Alondite standing on its point in front of him, his hand on top of the hilt.

The Black Knight let his thoughts wander to his earlier meeting with king Ashnard, his lord and liege. He always hated it when Ashnard praised him; it made the Daein king sound so…low. Like parents who would compliment a child for anything at all.

…Like parents…

Footsteps clopped on the white marble of the courtyard, at first the Black Knight was alert, Alondite at the ready. But eased up, as he knew who it was.

" What are you doing up so late Nathan?" he said to the boy behind him.

"Well sire… I…"

"Well?"

"I couldn't sleep sire, so I decided to go for a walk," the boy answered hurriedly.

There was silence between the two for a few moments, before the Black Knight asked the boy: "Do you…have any family Nathan?"

"Well… yes sire," replied the boy, taken aback by the sudden question.

"Where do you hail from Nathan?" The ebon clad figure asked; his back still turned to him.

"Benetia sire, a small village that borders Daein" the boy answered

" Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes sire, a bit too many in fact." He paused a second before he continued, " twelve brothers and sisters in all"

There was a little more silence before the Black Knight asked him: "D-Do you miss your home?"

Once again taken aback, the boy answered " Sure sometimes, but rather I'm glad to get away from it. Can you imagine a house full of kids all younger than you screaming and yelling all the time? It's utter madness, and mum dad aren't of any help, they just get irritated every time I try to tell them something. Like if their doing something wrong or whatever."

The Black Knight stayed silent, listening. Until after the boy spoke did he dismiss him, "you may go"

The boy stood there for a minute, "Go" said his master, "are you deaf or stupid? Go boy!"

This time the Black Knight heard him running across the courtyard, the loud clop, clop, clop of his footsteps fading. "Idiot boy" he thought, "He doesn't even know how good he has it, how lucky he is to still have parents and siblings." He looked to the sky and saw the North Star shining as clearly as the moon, then, one by one; the stars began to fall; as if from the face of the universe itself.

Flashback…

It was a beautiful, clear, crisp night sky out in the ocean. It was as if you could see the entire universe that night. A black haired boy and his beautiful mother stared up, amazed.

"Look there, honey!" said the mother to her child, " that's the north star which means if you see that then that's where north is." The boy nodded, both amazed and confused; how could a star know which way was north?

His mother pointed to the heavens once again, " look over there dear! That's Ashera the goddess." She pointed to a cluster of stars, " I don't see her mommy," said the boy.

The woman continued to point at the stars, " you don't see? But she's right there honey! Look, there's her head right there" she moved her finger in a semi-circle to show the head. " And right here is her hair see?" the finger moved down in strokes, one after another.

The boy was confused; he thought his mother was making it all up. Suddenly the stars began falling from the sky; he gripped his mother's arm in terror, but was reassured. "Don't worry, little one. Nothing will happen, look" He did and it was beautiful, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. " Make a wish honey," said his mother…


	2. Chapter 2: the new mission

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 2: The new mission

"Are you ready for your new assignment my generals?" asked Ashnard, his voice echoing in the vast Crimean throne chamber.

"Yes sire" the Black Knight responded "we will meet any challenge you set before us to the best of our ability."

Ashnard smirked at him, " Ha! That's my boy!"

The Black Knight grimaced, though his helmet refused to show it.

Bowing next to him, general Petrine also grimaced.

"Is something wrong Petrine?" asked Ashnard

"No sire" she responded, "please continue"

"Humph, very well then" Ashnard paused for a minute before he continued, "We'll start with you. I'm sure you know that Crimea's heir, Lord Renning, was slain during our siege of the Crimean capital only yesterday?"

"Yes sire" responded Petrine, the Black Knight kept silent.

"And the king and queen of Crimea were executed only moments ago?"

"Yes sire" responded Petrine

" Well did you know, my generals, that they had a daughter?"

"N-No sire" responded Petrine once again and in surprise, while the Black Knight suddenly became interested.

"They kept her in secrecy" continued Ashnard, " to avoid a blood feud between Lord Renning and the king. Her presence was known exclusively to the highest nobles of the six kingdoms, which is how_ I_ know of her."

He paused for a moment; Petrine was growing more excited by the minute.

"Our intelligence tells us she is headed for the country of Gallia, the beast warriors. I'm guessing you've already figured out your new assignment?"

"Yes sire" responded Petrine, " to capture the Crimean princess and bring her back home."

"Alive" added Ashnard; " I want her back alive, Petrine."

"Yes sire" said Petrine, a bit disappointed.

"I've already assembled your troops for this mission, I suggest you get ready."

"Yes sire, by your leave" she got up, bowed deeply, and left the throne room. The Black Knight stayed where he was.

The doors of the throne room closed with an echoing 'clank'

"Now, Black Knight, are you ready for _your _assignment?"

" Yes sire" he responded.

" I'm sure you've heard of the legend of Lehran's medallion?"

"The medallion used to imprison the Dark God, yes sire I know of it"

Ashnard gave a small chuckle, "Good, but did you also know that whoever lays a hand on it goes mad and tries to kill anyone within his or her eyesight?"

"No sire, I was not informed of that part of the legend"

" It's not legend, my boy, its fact," said Ashnard, taking a grave tone before he continued. "This will make your task much more difficult, for your new assignment is to retrieve Lehran's medallion."

"I understand sire," said the Black Knight.

Ashnard smiled at the knight's monotone reply; truly he feared nothing. "Our intelligence has located the medallion in the possession of a band of mercenaries. Not too difficult for you, do you think?"

"Not at all sire" responded the Black Knight.

" Even when their leader is a former Rider of Daein?"

The Black Knight lifted his head in surprise, his eye connecting with Ashnard's.

"His name is 'Gawain'" said Ashnard, "perhaps you've heard of him? He was once the most powerful general of the Daein army. No one knows why he resigned his position, a position _you_ now fill."

"Yes sire, I've heard of him," responded the Black Knight.

Ashnard's tone became serious, as well as grave, " I trusted _you_ with this mission, instead of Petrine, because I know _she_ cannot defeat Gawain and I know _you_ can. Do not prove that I have made a mistake in assuming this."

"Yes sire, I will not fail you"

"Go then" said Ashnard, waving his hand as if shooing him out the door.

The Black Knight turned and left the chamber, 'Gawain' he thought, 'at last we will meet again. At last I will have my revenge.'

Flashback…

"Mommy what's that?" the boy asked as the last stars of the meteor shower fell out of sight.

Out across the horizon, but coming up fast, was a cloud of pure black birds.

The mother gasped and uttered a word under her breath so that only her son could hear it, "Pirates" She repeated it again, yelling it out this time, " Pirates! Pirates!" she immediately caught everyone's attention.

"What's going on down here!" yelled the captain, who had come out on deck because of all the commotion. "What's all this about?"

"Pirates sir! There!" said the boy's mother.

"There can't be pirates this far out! We're deep in Daein waters! That's-" but one look at the approaching swarm made his words turn cold, "by the goddess, pirates!"

He turned to his crew, "pirates men! Arm yourselves!"

But by then it was too late, the ravens were already on their doorstep. The men barely had time to defend themselves (not that they could fight well anyway) and the civilians had no time to get off deck. The ravens killed every beroc in sight, not caring for prisoners.

The young boy tried to make his way through the panic and carnage, being half lead and half dragged by his mother. A raven spotted the two desperately trying to make it below deck, and shot through the sky after them. The raven's beak connected with the mother's palm, forcing her to let go of the child, who had fallen down while trying to avoid the raven's attack.

The boy looked up to see his mother still being attacked by the raven, her face now covered with blood. The boy immediately got to his feet and ran at the large bird in an attempt to save her. He jumped up and caught the bird by the leg, and was held in the air for a short time before the bird finally shook him off. The boy fell to the ground with a thud on his skull, but he noticed he also had something in his hand. He looked and saw it was a pouch; it must have been tied to the raven's leg.

The raven soon noticed it was missing and launched an attempt to take it back, taking hold of part of the satchel with it's mighty beak. The boy pulled and pulled in order to prevent the raven from taking it back, and, eventually, it ripped. Both the boy and the raven jerked back from the momentum of the struggle as a small trail of glittering red powder fell to the floor.

The boy looked back up to see a big, brawny figure with black wings sticking out of his back. At his side was another just like him, telling him: "Goliath we have to leave, the gunpowder's all set and this place is about to blow sky high!"

"Now without my powder!" retorted the laguz man named Goliath

"You'll perish will this ship!" argued the other man, " Besides you can get more later!"

Goliath stared down at the boy one last time and grimaced, his left eye was bloodshot and red. Then he took flight on his powerful wings high into the air so as to avoid the on coming blast.

The boy looked at his mother, who by now was lying on the floor. He could not see her face, but her cloths were stepped with blood as she was lying in a puddle of it. The boy could not stand the sight and looked down, refusing to believe that the freshly bloodied corpse was his mother. Refusing to believe that his mother was dead.

Suddenly at his feet appeared a small rune that glowed a red color and shone brighter and brighter with each passing second. Until the world itself seemed to swirl and melt around him, and the scene changed from the ship, to a ball of fire suddenly erupting from the bowls of the ship, but even that melted away. And just when the ship was engulfed in the orange flame.

He was gone.

Later he found himself in a bed, with a man in black armor standing over him. "Ah good, you're awake." he said. The man stared down at him with kind eyes.

"General Gawain" said a voice from outside, "a message from sir Taruoneo"

The man turned and said, "can't it wait? Tell him I'm busy"

" This is urgent sir, it can't wait" said the messenger.

But slowly the boy lost consciousness; first everything became a blur, then darkness…


	3. Chapter 3:Gawain

Disclaimer: Nintendo and Intelligence studios own Fire Emblem, but who do you think owns them…

(A/N): Sorry if the last chapter sucked, and I apologize pre chapter if this one sucks too.

Chapter 3: Gawain

'Pathetic' thought the Black Knight as he watched Gawain and Petrine's little bout.

It was interesting how the goddess played fate, what in the world was going on in her head? While both attending to their own missions, Petrine and the Black Knight's paths had crossed again. It turns out that they were both chasing the same mercenary group, the Griel Mercenaries. Apparently they were the princess's new escorts to castle Gallia, though just how _their_ paths crossed is still a mystery. The Black Knight did not trouble himself over this matter though, not even the mission concerned him now. Only one matter troubled his mind…

Gawain, Griel, had become so _weak_

Petrine stabbed her flame lance at Gawain, but only striking air as he pulled back and dogged the attack, then launched a counterattack with a horizontal swing of his mighty axe. Petrine barely ducked back in time, and her mount nearly tripped over itself when she shifted her weight back. The horse turned around and Petrine struck again, missing again. Gawain countered with a vertical swipe and again Petrine dogged, and this time retreated so as to attack from a distance using the fire magic imbued within her lance. Gawain charged at her, knocking back fireballs that came at him, and attacked with a leaping vertical swipe.

The axe crushed part of the ground on impact, but Petrine succeeded in dogging the attack again. However, Gawain followed it up with a diagonal slash which Petrine did not dodge, but block. The impact of the blow sent her off her mount and down to the floor, Gawain held his axe about level with her throat and said: "It's over, you've lost"

"You look like an ordinary sellsword, but you fight like a demon," said Petrine.

"Are you going to give up quietly?" asked Gawain.

The Black Knight allowed a small chuckle to escape him, 'ah Gawain' he thought, 'just a chivalrous as ever'

Petrine gave him a look of disgust and said: "and forfeit my honor? Never."

Suddenly the chamber was filled with Daein soliders, blocking each corridor and surrounding him.

Gawain retreated back to the center of the chamber and positioned himself for what he was sure to be his last battle.

"Father!" came from behind him.

Both Gawain and the Black Knight turned and saw a young man, about nineteen, with a red cape and blue hair. Behind him was a small group, all armed and ready to fight.

'So…this is Gawain so call mercenary group' thought the Black Knight. As capable as he thought they probably were, they could not possibly defeat those numbers.

"Ike!" said Gawain to the blue haired boy, " I told you to leave with Shinon and Gatrie!"

"We can't leave without you father!" Ike replied.

'That is Gawain's son?' thought the Black Knight, 'he has grown since the last time we met'

Petrine gave and irritating laugh and said, "How nice, your little group has come to save you."

"Leave them out of this" said Gawain, "I'm the one you want."

"I can't do that" retorted Petrine, "you see, the princess has yet to surrender herself to me and-"

"She's not here," said Ike, "In fact she's already in Gallia."

Petrine was visibly shocked, "Impossible, my men-"

"Were defeated" Ike finished, Gawain glanced back at him with approval.

Petrine's temper was starting to flare up again, "If I cannot have the princess, then I shall have your lives!" and with that, she gave the order for her men to advance.

The roars of the beast warriors echoed through the halls with resounding fury.

"It's the warriors of Gallia!" cried the soliders as they immediately turned tail and ran.

"Hold your positions!" yelled Petrine, "the first man to leave will be the first to die!" But, though they feared Petrine, the soliders feared the beast warriors of Gallia a great deal more.

Tigers and cats appeared in the chamber, twice as big as their natural counterparts. One suddenly exploded in a flash of red light and became a man a little over Ike's age.

"I am Ranulf, captain of the Gallia royal guard," he said, "You are trespassing on Gallia soil and have no right to be here, leave at once!"

"I cannot" said Petrine, "not if I wish to keep my honor."

Petrine was now in a hopeless situation, if she stayed she would undoubtedly be killed. But if she ran, she would have to face the king's indignant wrath…

'It's time I stepped in' thought the Black Knight, as he stepped out of the shadows.

"General Petrine, take your men and fall back," he said, making himself known.

"The Black Knight" said Petrine under her breath.

"Fall back Petrine, I will explain to the king for you personally."

She frowned at him, but then looked back at the Gallian warriors, baring their teeth and dagger like claws. "Fall back" was the only thing she said, and she and the remainder of her men walked away.

The Black Knight turned to Gawain and their eyes met; they stared at each other intensely for a moment. Ike looked form his father, to the stranger, and back to his father. It was as if they knew each other.

"Hey!" called Ranulf, "Are you going to leave, or do you think you can take on all of us?"

As much as he wanted to shut the fool up, the Black Knight turned and left. 'Soon Gawain' he thought, 'soon…'


	4. Chapter 4: a midnight duel

(AN): Wow, I would like to thank Macky and The Shadow fox mistress for reviewing this, as well as anyone else who has been reading this story.

Disclaimer: Nintendo and Intelligence studios own Fire Emblem, I do not. But I will… oh I will.

Chapter 4: The midnight duel

Flashback…

"Good boy, but you'll have to do better than that to beat ME!" Gawain said, as he lunged at the thirteen-year-old knight in training.

The boy blocked the attack with one hand, and lunged at him with the sword in his other.

Gawain blocked the first blow, then the one after that, then the one after that one. The young squire lunged at him with a diagonal swing downward, which Gawain dodged and counterattacked with a blow to his back.

The boy was shaken, but this defeat only strengthened his resolve to get at least _one_ good hit off his instructor before finally turning in. They had started in the morning, the boy had challenged him to a sparring match after breakfast, and theyhad been going at it ever since. It was now bordering the end of midday, the sun now a flaming orange ball fading in the distance.

"Give up yet?" asked Gawain.

"Are you kidding?" answered the boy, "I was just getting warmed up."

"Heh, heh, so was I"

Gawain raised his wooden practice sword, and smirked: "Well come on boy, I haven't got all day"

The squire ran at the Daein general and attempted to stab him with the sword in his left hand. Gawain parried the blow and pushed him back, causing the boy to stumble. The boy regained his balance and attacked with both swords in a horizontal slash, which Gawain blocked, parried, and knocked a sword out of his right hand. Gawain attacked with a wide horizontal sweep aimed at the boy's head, which the boy duck and attempted to counter with an upward stab. He caught the boy's wrist in mid-attack and gave it a twist, which made the boy immediately drop his remaining sword.

Gawain released his grip and the boy stepped back, gingerly rubbing his wrist. Gawain smirked again, and looked to the setting sun, now only just above the mountains.

"Why don't we call it a day?" asked Gawain, his trainer sword on his shoulder.

"No, not yet" said the boy, picking up the closest sword, "one more time"

Gawain looked at the boy, he was visibly exhausted. "It's good that you're so determined, but a good trait a knight has is knowing when your beat."

"One more time sir" said the boy.

Gawain yawned, the boy tried not to show his irritation. "No, it's pointless to keep going now. Look at you, you're exhausted."

The boy did not lower his guard.

Gawain sighed and said, "look boy, another good trait a knight has is knowing when to fight and when not to. Now we could go back, have a hot supper, get some rest, and you could challenge me again in the morning with renewed strength. Or, we could keep going, miss supper, not get a good night's sleep till late, and tomorrow, when you challenge me again, you'll still be exhausted and I'll still wipe the floor with you. Now, which one of those choices do you think is the better?"

Reluctantly, the boy lowered his guard and muttered: "fine"

Gawain smiled, "Good, you've made the right decision" he picked up the boy's second sword, "now let's get back, their serving beans tonight."

The boy sighed, beans_ again_…

The enchanted blade, Ragnell, and Gawain's axe met with a 'clang' under a full moon.

Gawain was knocked back, but managed to recover form the blow enough to lunge at the Black Knight once more. The Black Knight quickly moved Ragnell to block and the two weapons were caught in a deadlock. The Black Knight threw their weapons out of the deadlock by pushing Gawain back with such force that not only did it knock him down; his axe also flew from his hand.

'Is this really all that's left you Gawain?' thought the Black Knight looking down on the once proud Daein general.

"Father!"

Gawain turned to the side; the Black Knight did not even look.

"Ike, stay back!" cried Gawain.

Ike stopped, still a good distance from the duel.

The Black Knight then decided to show one last act of compassion towards his former teacher. "Here, take this blade." He said, throwing Ragnell to Gawain.

The sword landed like a thrown spear, it's point embedded into the ground.

"What are you doing?" asked Gawain.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time" said the Black Knight, unsheathing Alondite. "I would rather you use your proper weapon so that I may see you at your full strength general Gawain, Rider of Daein!"

"That _was_ my name," said Gawain as he pluck Ragnell from the ground, "But I…"

He threw Ragnell back at the Black Knight; it landed in the center of the field in the same fashion.

"…Threw it away, the only weapon I need…" he said picking up his axe, "…is right here!"

"Do you…want to die?" asked the Black Knight.

"That voice… I remember you. Think you can defeat me? The man who taught you how to fight? Don't make me laugh. Come on boy! Come try me!"

He charged at him again, the axe striking Alondite horizontally. All Ike could do was watch as his father's axe struck Alondite again, and again, and again.

'It's time to end this' thought the Black Knight as Gawain attacked with another downward slash.

The Black Knight blocked it… with his arm.

Ike stood both with amazement and despair.

With his sword arm free, the Black Knight ran his blade through his father.

"Is that…all there is?" the Black Knight cooed mockingly in Gawain's ear, "No challenge? No…resistance?"

He unsheathed his blade from Gawain's body.

Gawain stumbled and fell into the arms of his son, as the Black Knight stood victorious. 'Finally' he thought, 'finally I have fulfilled my vow.'

"Father!" cried Ike into the darkness of the night, "Father! Don't leave! Don't leave me!"

"FAAAAAAAAATHERRRRRRR!"


	5. Chapter 5: Memoir of the past: Melanie

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.

(A/N): I just want to clarify; in the last flashback the boy was thirteen. But in the flashbacks before that he was something like six. Also, I'm letting on Anonymous reviews now. I didn't know how to enable them until I remembered the review page (duh). So let the flaming begin! This chapter sucks!

Now on with the story…

Chapter 5: Memoir from the past: Melanie 

The boy awoke that night to several aches on his body, including his back, arms, wrist, and legs. He also had a stiff neck, as he did not sleep well at all. He dreamed about that night with his mother, on the ship before the pirate attack. For some reason, he hated it when he dreamed of his mother. It brought back painful memories of what happened afterwards, and his vow. The vow he had made to his mother to become stronger and avenge her, and to always use his strength to protect the innocent and weak. After all, that was what a knight did was it not?

But now he started to doubt his ability to keep that vow, he had trained himself day after day night after night. Always trying to improve on what his esteemed instructor had taught him, he even went to extra lengths and train with two swords. Then yesterday he challenged Gawain, feeling confident he could take anyone at that moment. And what happened? He ended up spending the whole day getting his ass handed to him many times over. Maybe he was not cut out to be a knight; maybe he would never be strong enough to do what he said he would.

He sighed, got up, and walked out of his tent. The night air was cool and refreshing, he picked up his sword and decided to go for a walk to clear his head. He ended up wandering to far away from the camp and, after several hours of wandering aimlessly, he realized he was lost. He tried to go back the way he came by following his footprints, but it was to dark to see and this only resulted in getting him more lost.

"Oh, by the goddess!" he said as he sat on a nearby stone, "Gawain's going to kill me." He took a moment and rethought his statement, then said "If he ever finds me." Then, after a moment, he rethought _that_ statement. 'He'll find me' he thought, 'If I know Gawain, he'll find me.' Though he began to think maybe that was not necessarily a good thing.

The boy looked up through an opening in the trees and saw a bright quarter moon shining though a break in the clouds. His thoughts drifted back to the dream he had with his mother, and how the memory had seemed so real. He remembered the smile on her face that night, the warm touch of her hand on his shoulder. He remembered her voice as she pointed to the heavens and showed her Ashera and the North Star, and he remembered her embrace when he foolishly thought the meteor shower was an ill omen. And when he thought of all this, his heart would feel heavy with grief and tears would roll freely form his eyes, no matter how hard he tried to stop them. It felt as if he was grieving all over again, grieving for the smile he would never see again. The voice he would never hear again, the touch he would never feel again. It pained him more than the shame of losing to Gawain, for shame would pass over time, but death was permanent.

A scream echoed through the woods and broke the silence of the night.

The boy came out of his thoughts and rushed to find the cause of the noise. He came to an area where the trees were less thick and saw firelight coming between them. He heard the scream again and followed it to a camp sight, a campfire blazing in the middle. The boy crouched in the bushes and watched as big, burly men gathered around the fire. He counted at least fifteen, until he saw the one standing over some poles with a big furry spider in his hand. 'Sixteen' he added in his head. The scream resounded into the air a third time and saw that it was coming from the poles. The boy looked closer and saw there were two women tied to them, one was a girl that looked about his age. The other was a full-grown woman, looking around Gawain's age. The girl was the one getting tortured; apparently she had a fear of spiders.

"Aww watz de matta?" taunted the bandit, " girly afraid duf a spider?" The bandit then placed the spider on the girl's chest and let it crawl up to her face; she winced and squirmed in terror. "Huh huh huh huh" laughed the bandit, dumbly.

"Hey, knock it off and get your supper!" said a voice next to the fire, " And stop teasin the merchandise! We'll git to have some fun with 'em soon enough."

"Duh, okay boss" said the other bandit and left to join his fellows around the campfire, leaving the girl at the mercy of the eight legged menace now on her cheek. The boy chose this time to make his move, and snuck up to the girl and shooed the spider away. She opened her eyes and saw him, the woman next to her also saw him. The boy put one finger to his lips and drew his knife, the girl looked wide-eyed in terror. He ignored her and proceeded to cut her bonds, he was so tensed he could hear his heart beating in his ear. He was about through when a voice yelled: " Hey! Watz that there kid doing to the merchandise!" 'Shoot' he thought as he drew his sword and ran to met the bandit charging at him. The bandit tried a downward slice with his axe, which the boy easily dodged and counted with a blow that resulted in gutting the bastard. 'Too easy' he thought.

The leader watched him and nodded, sending another bandit his way. This one was a bit smarter and dogged the boy's initial attack, then tried to counter with a downward axe swing. But the boy was too fast and sidestepped to the right and ran his sword into the bandit's gut. 'Another one down' the boy thought, all that training really did pay off.

This time the bandit leader sent three after him, he charged and gutted the one in the lead same as the first. But this time there were two others behind him, he blocked one downward swing and got punched in the gut by the other guy. The boy looked up just in time to duck another punch and tried to duck back in an attempt to avoid an axe swing. It half worked, as the axe sliced his arm. The boy cursed, a small line of blood was flowing from his mouth and his arm was bleeding. He could not keep this up, as much as he hated it, he was going to die. The bandits laughed loud and dumbly, they were only fooling around with him. But now it was time to get serious. 'Mother' he thought, ' I'm sorry…' The two bandits advanced toward him.

And stopped short as one of them took a spear through the chest.

The other bandit turned just in time to see his companion fall, then fell himself. The bandits were all on their feet now, watching as the two assailants came out from the cover of darkness. The boy saw them too, though he already knew who it was. "This boy is my responsibility" said general Gawain, "I will prevent him from troubling you further." The bandit leader sneered at him and said, "yur boy there tries to steal my merchandise" Gawain looked to the girls, "I'll buy them from you, how much?" The bandit laughed and said " after what yous just did to my burthur? Yur not leavin here alive." He turned to the others behind him, "get 'em boys!"

Gawain sighed, " let's go Taruoneo"

"Right behind you, old friend" said the general behind him.

Of course, we all know who will win. Gawain was unstoppable with his sword, as he cleaved through both axes and their owners. He was a madman with a blade. Taruoneo did just as well, despite having a weapon disadvantage. His skill with the lance far outmatched the bandit's skill with an axe. Overall it was a very short, easily won battle.

Gawain came to the boy's side and applied a vulnerary to his wound while Taruoneo undid the girl's bonds. The two did not speak a word to each other on the trip back to camp, the two women in tow. The girl he tried to save approached him, however.

"That was amazing!" she said, "how you killed that guy with the axe? It was amazing!"

The boy did not reply, so the girl continued.

"Where did you learn how to do that? It was so cool! And then that other guy came and he was all 'grrrr' but you were all 'hyah!' and you did that cool move and he went down. Remember?"

The boy nodded.

"Man, you're really good!"

"But I lost" he finally said.

"Yeah, so?"

The boy finally turned to her; she had blue eyes and blonde hair. She smiled back at him and she looked… well…beautiful.

"I'm Melanie" she said, "and I guess you're my knight in shining armor."


	6. Chapter 6:the first confrontation

(A/N): I apologize if this chapter isn't as good as the other five.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire emblem

Chapter 6: The first confrontation

On a small port village in Crimea, a fierce battle was taking place. It was between Daein soliders, and a mercenary company accused of breaking into a military compound and freeing the prisoners. This mercenary company, seeking passage to Begnion, had been turned in by the town villagers for associating with sub-humans and was now fighting for their very lives. At least, that is how Ike saw it.

He ducked as another arrow took flight, narrowly missing his head.

Ike raised his sword defensively and dodged another arrow. His opponent, who had revealed himself as commander Mackoya, had proven to be a very good marksman. He had been keeping Ike and his companion Lethe off the bridge that lead in a straight path to the boat. Ike sorely wished his laguz ally could have changed into beast form and dispose of him, but alas, she had used up all their strength vanquishing other foes.

Mackoya had another arrow notched in his bow, but did not fire. Ike paused and thought of only one reason he was not trying to feather them like quills at the moment. He was about to gloat.

"Give it up boy" he said, "You're petty little band of sellswords are no match for the might of Daein. Even your sub-human companion trembles in fear."

"You'll regret those words human!" said Lethe as she drew her knife, Ike turned and, to his relief, saw their newly recruited member restrain her. "Do not be foolish Lethe!" the swordsman said, "Without your beast form your no match for him." Ike looked to the town, worried about the rest of the company.

The swordsman suddenly stood beside him, "Do you command this group?" he asked.

"Yeah" was Ike's reply.

"My name is Zihark," he said

"Ike" said Ike

"What do you propose to do about him?" Zihark asked, not taking his eyes off Mackoya for a second.

Ike, still facing Mackoya, said, "I'm open for suggestions"

"How about this one?" Zihark asked as he made a dash for Mackoya.

Mackoya smirked and fired an arrow, which Zihark just barely dodged. Now that he was within range, Zihark jumped up and attempted to finish the battle with a stroke of his killing edge. The attack half worked, Zihark missed Mackoya but destroyed his bow. Mackoya, enraged by the destruction of his primary weapon, brought his laguz lance to bear. He stabbed at Zihark who blocked the attack; whether it was meant for a beroc or a laguz a stab wound could be devastating. Mackoya stabbed again, this time caching Zihark off guard and wounding his leg.

Zihark could no longer move; Mackoya poised himself for a final blow.

"Hyaa!" cried a voice form behind.

Mackoya turned just in time to see Ike deliver the finishing blow.

Ike landed nimbly on his feet, Mackoya muttered a few last words, fell to the ground, and died.

"Nice job" commented Zihark, bent down on one knee. Lethe came into the scene, "hey, are you alright?" she asked, trying to hide any concern in her voice. Ike helped Zihark up and carried him the way a solider would carry a wounded comrade. They were nearly there; Ike could see the ships starboard side. He could also see the remaining soliders that guarded it, but with their commander dead they should not be much of a challenge.

Suddenly, a cold chill ran down Ike's spine, "It's him" he whispered to himself.

"What?" asked Lethe.

"Lethe can you carry Zihark to the rendezvous point?" Ike asked, his face showing foolish determination.

Lethe scoffed, "of course I can, why? Tired already?"

Ike handed Zihark over to Lethe, "get to the rendezvous point and tell the others to continue with the attack"

"Wait, where are you going? Wait!"

But Ike had already dashed off. Lethe mumbled something nasty about beroc under her breath, and she and Zihark made their way to the rendezvous point.

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The Black Knight stepped out of the shack in frustration, 'where are you Nathan?' he thought angrily, 'Damn that boy'

He hated it when he had to bring him along; he always slowed him down. Why had he even made his father relinquish him in the first place? The battlefield was no place for a mere boy, even if said boy knew more than a bit of magic. Perhaps-

"I've finally found you" said a voice form behind him.

The Black Knight recognized the voice instantly, "well met son of Gawain"

There was an awkward silence between the two before the Black Knight said "interesting, you see me and yet you do not flee? How brave…and foolish."

"I do not fear you," responded Ike, "I will avenge my father, the man you killed."

The Black Knight gave a small audible chuckle, "go home boy, as you are now you cannot even hope to defeat me."

Despite his warning, Ike charged at him regal blade in hand. The Black Knight easily blocked his initial attack with Alondite and pushed him back. Ike stumbled, but quickly regained his footing and attacked again. The Black Knight parried the blow and stepped to the side so Ike tripped on his own weight and fell. Frustrated, Ike attacked in an upward arc. The Black Knight parried the attack again and with his free hand back fisted the left side of his face. Ike stumbled with the force of the blow; he spat blood on the ground as he regained his footing. Ike charged and tried to stab at the enigmatic figure, who then knocked Ike's sword up and delivered a punch to his stomach that sent him sprawling. The Black Knight picked up Ike by the throat and threw him away; he landed with a dull thud onto the ground.

"I told you, you couldn't defeat me," said the Black Knight as Ike got up.

Ike raised his sword once again; "will you not desist?" asked the Black Knight.

Ike did not lower his sword; "very well, I had hoped to fight you when you were stronger. Perhaps then you would have been more of a challenge, but…" said the Black Knight as he raised Alondite above his head, as if intending to strike air. "Perhaps you will be better off in the afterlife, with your father."

"NOOOO!"

The Black Knight turned and watched as a young girl put herself in front of Gawain son, arms outstretched from end to end.

"If you want to kill my brother you'll have to kill me too!" cried the girl.

The Black Knight stood amazed and confused, 'M-Melanie?' he thought

"Mist no!" said Ike, "get out of here now!"

'Mist?' thought the Black Knight.

Just then, a red haired paladin and a group of fully armed men and women appeared.

"Ike! Are you alright!" the paladin called to Gawain's son.

The Black Knight gave a sinister laugh as he lowered Alondite. "The goddess must smile upon you, son of Gawain. Your life is still yours, this fight is over."

"No!" cried Ike as he tried to charge again, this time to weak to even take a step forward.

"Ike!" said Mist as he fell on one knee.

"Idiot" said the Black Knight, "foolish boy, you don't know when to give up" he turned to the paladin, "you may take him" She looked daggers at him, but her main concern was that Ike was still breathing. A knight is green armor helped him up on his own horse, the Black Knight and Ike exchanged one final glance.

He watched the company depart, looking at them with intensifying intrigue and excitement.


	7. Chapter 7: The oracle stone

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 7: The oracle stone

The sounds of battle could be heard from inside the small inn, where Nathan had decided to spend his time with a meal. He sat under a table like the rest in the mess hall, cursing his cowardice. Here was a chance to finally have a taste of battle, to finally prove he was more than a valet for some oaf in black armor. And what did he do? He hid under a table like a mere civilian. A coward, he cursed himself again.

He thought of his older brother, the eldest of his siblings. He was a spy for Daein, now that was the life! Action and adventure with each passing day! Never knowing who to trust, whom to kill. Always ready for an attack, ah! How Nathan longed for such a life! The life of an adventurer, the life of a hero. The path paved with the blood of enemies and everlasting glory! Yes, that was truly the life.

Oh, how he longed to be his brother, if only just for a day. How he longed for glory and adventure to be added to his dull and boring life. How he longed to be someone who mattered, whose name would be feared by enemies and praised by his people. All his life he had dreamed of being like his brother and going on adventures, but alas it was not meant to be. He cursed his father, cursed him for having that embarrassing accident. The accident that put him in the service of that, that, that wretch! That blasted knave! Who had always treated him like a servant, no, a slave! A slave and a boy, he hated him. Oh, how he loathed him. How he wished he could avenge himself on him for every act of misery he had forced upon him.

"Hello there boy, may I interest you in a reading?"

Nathan turned and suddenly there was an ancient woman behind him, very old and ugly.

"Excuse me?" he asked

"A reading, my boy." Replied the old woman

For a minute, Nathan had no idea what she was talking about. The old woman just stared at him, her with her wrinkled skin, beady black eyes, and dusty old hair. Then it came to him, "Oh, you mean like a fortune-telling reading."

The old crone gave a wide, three toothed smile and nodded.

"No thanks" said Nathan, trying to hide his disgust.

The old crone frowned, "Well that just great, I come shuffling my old bones here thinking that this kind young boy would give me at least a few spare coins so's I could maybe make a decent living. Just a few! All I asked, just two or three. Can't even humor an old crone in the last fading years of her life? Well aren't you the considerate one? Honestly, what ever did you mother teach you about manners?"

"Shhh, be quiet!" Nathan whispered. The old crone was speaking so loud she was starting to cause a scene.

"Eh, what's that?"

"I said hush!"

" 'Hush', I'm seventy years your senior boy. You can't tell me what to do! I'll hush when I want to hush!"

Nathan winced at the loudness of her reply; already a few heads had turned to see what was happening. "Shhh! Alright! You can have the reading!" he whispered.

The old crone ceased her ranting and her tone suddenly changed, "well, so you've changed your mind? Good, now let me see your hand sonny."

Nathan gave her his right hand, "No no! The other one!" said the old crone.

Nathan gave her his left; the old crone took it in both hands. Her skin felt wrinkled and dry. " Now let's see…" she closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

For a few moments, Nathan sat quiet trying to hide his annoyance lest the old crone bust out in rants again. Finally, she said something.

"Interesting…you're in the service of the Black Knight." She said

Nathan rolled his eyes, any of the dozens of people who were at the gate at the time of their arrival could have told him that.

"Your master…he is speaking with someone very important…a much higher ranking official…"

Nathan began to worry, a higher-ranking official? Surly she did not mean Ashnard, for that the Black Knight would have had to leave him behind here.

"I'm getting a face…it seems to be…the prime minister of Begnion…"

Nathan sighed in relief, what would the prime minister be doing here?

"Now…to your future…"

Nathan leaned forward, "go on" he said

"…Yes…I see…Sub-humans…"

"Sub-humans?" asked Nathan, confused. What would his future have to do sub-humans?

"…They walk in a town square…all of them sub-humans…beast warriors…"

"Gallia" Nathan said

"So it would seem…"

Nathan held his breath, than let it go.

"…Now I see…tents…many tents…men in black armor…your master and others of his rank…and many weapons…"

The old crone let go of his hand, "That's it"

Nathan was a bit annoyed, "that's it?"

"Yep, I would do more but I grow weary. An old lady needs lots of rest, you know? Now, I believe the price is fifty gold."

"You said you only wanted a few coins."

"I did, and I define fifty gold as a few."

Nathan heaved a sigh and handed her the fifty gold coins, "Nice doing business with you." Said the old crone, her eyes gleaming. She turned and began to crawl away; Nathan looked around and saw that he and the old crone were the only ones left in the inn. The sounds of battle had ceased and everyone was outside.

Nathan scanned the room, and his eyes caught a gleaming object. It refracted the light of the sun like a prism, in different colors all distorted. He came out form under the table to pick it up, when the old crone snatched it from the ground.

"Ah-ha! Got you!" she said to the gleaming object now in her palm, "thought you could get away eh?"

Nathan stood up and dusted himself off, "um, what is that?" he asked.

The old crone cackled, "This, my boy, is the oracle stone."

"Uh-huh"

"It is the source of my power, it let's me see into the future."

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Where'd you find it?"

The old crone smiled, "oh, around"

There was a moment of silence, before the old crone sighed and said "Yes, but sometimes I wish I hadn't. This fortune-telling business is tough kid. So many customers, so many people. Day and night, night and day, gives me shivers just thinking about it. Yes, sometimes I wish someone would just take it away."

No response

"Take it away," she repeated.

No response, the old crone turned to the boy, who was looking out the window.

"Boy!" she yelled.

"Huh?"

"You don't have much of an attention span do you? I said 'I wish someone would just take it away." She repeated once again, holding the stone out.

"Oh…I'll do it"

"Great, ten thousand gold"

"What!"

"Well I didn't say you could relive me of my life long burden for free." Said the old crone.

Nathan was about to take back his offer, but glanced at the stone again. It shone a white light, as if it had it's own aura. And, he could not be too sure at the moment, but it seemed to call his name.

Sighing, Nathan pulled out a bag of gold coins, "All I have is one-thousand-"

"Done!" said the old crone, snatching the bag and replacing it with the stone.

The old crone put the sack of money to her ears and listened to the gold coins jingling inside. Nathan looked at the stone in his hand, it still shone brightly, but he did not feel any different.

"Hey, are you sure this thing works?" he asked the old crone.

"Don't look at me like that boy! I would never swindle you," she said as Nathan gave her a quizzical look, "I am a woman of my word, just put it under your pillow at night."

Sighing, Nathan pocketed the stone and turned to leave, when the old crone called out to him.

"What?" he asked

"There was a blue haired boy in the visions, your master just defeated him in a duel. But be wary, your master will fight the boy two more times. On the third time your service to him will end."

Nathan looked at her as if wanting her to clarify, but she just went back to jingling her gold.


	8. Chapter 8: Memoir of the past: the Heron

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 8: Memoir of the past: The Heron

"Hello, Helloooooo"

The boy's eyes flickered open as the words crooned in his ear. He was greeted by the image of a blonde haired, blue-eyed girl peering down at him.

"Melanie?"

The girl smiled, "general Gawain sent me to wake you up sleepy head"

Groggily, the boy heaved the covers of his sleeping bag off and sat up. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Ummm, I think a little bit into the afternoon," replied Melanie

"What! Why didn't you wake me up sooner? Everyone's supposed to be up a daybreak!"

"I know, I was going to but general Gawain said you need your rest" said Melanie, "After all, you had a pretty rough night last night."

Ah yes last night, how could he forget? He could hardly believe he had made his first kill that night, and much earlier that anyone had anticipated.

The boy yawned and stretched his arms; outside he could hear the bustling of soliders and workers. "I probably missed breakfast didn't I?" he moped

The girl giggled and brought out a basket full of apples, "They're from breakfast, sorry but it was all that was left."

The boy looked at the basket of apples, not much but it had to be better than left over beans. He picked one up and took a bite out of it, and another, and another. In a few minutes it was gone, he picked up another and began eating that one.

Melanie watched all this for a few moments in fascination, man the kid was hungry.

"Hey, um, I was wondering…"

The boy paused his relentless scourge of the apple, "yeah, what is it?"

"If it's not to much trouble…"

"Yes"

"Could you teach me how to use a sword?"

An eyebrow went up at her request, "why?"

"Well, last night you were able to defeat those bandits and stuff, and I decided I wanted to learn how to do that stuff so that I don't have to keep getting rescued. Plus, I can defend my sis and stuff."

The boy stared at her for a few seconds, "it's not easy, you can't learn swordsmanship with just one lesson."

"I know, but I'll try my best and I'll be a good student!" said the girl, "Please teach me! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeee"

"Weeeeeeeeeeeell, okay"

Melanie immediately got up and did a happy dance, "Yes! Yes! YES!" She took the boy's hand and shook it hard, "Thank you SO much! You won't regret it! I'll be the best student EVER! I'll listen, and study, and do my homework…"

'What have I done?' Thought the boy.

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It was near late afternoon when Melanie finally got her lesson. They were in the woods, just far enough to escape the commotion of the camp. "Okay, let's begin" said the boy and tossed her a wooden sword.

Melanie leaned forward and barely caught it, "whada we do first?" she asked

"Well, let's start with the basic strokes" said the boy, "swing your sword down."

Melanie chopped the sword diagonally, and then looked back at the boy.

"Well, it's supposed to go like this," said the boy as he demonstrated the proper way to perform the stroke.

The girl imitated his movements, "eh, this isn't that hard"

"Just wait till we start the more advanced techniques," said the boy in response

They went through the basic strokes again and again, the boy correcting Melanie very often. It was near dark when the boy decided they should head back.

"Aww, but we didn't do anything!" said Melanie

"Yes we did"

"But we didn't do anything like what you did to those bandit guys!"

"Be patient, we'll get to those eventually" said the boy, thinking about how he was starting to sound like Gawain.

Melanie groaned and started to walk after him when she stopped, "I think I just heard something."

The boy turned and faced her, "whatever it is you're pulling-"

"No I'm serious!" she turned and began to walk deeper into the woods.

"Wait! Where are you going!" the boy yelled as she walked away, "Oh, darn it!" he muttered and followed her. They walked a short distance and saw a pure white bird sprawled onto the ground as if it fell from the sky. One of its enormous wings was bent at the joints.

"Oh, the poor thing!" exclaimed Melanie as she knelt down at it's side.

"Be careful Melanie," the boy warned

She ignored him, "its wing is hurt, quick hand me the basket."

The boy did so, "What are you-"

She took the cloth that was wrapped over the basket and ripped it in half, then said to the now conscious bird "this may hurt a bit" She took both ends of the broken wing and snapped it back into place.

The bird let out and ear-piercing screech, the boy pounced onto the ground and closed the beak shut with both hands. The bird struggled to open it again, twisting its graceful neck this way and that.

"Don't! You're hurting it!"

"Well we can't help it if it breaks our ears!"

"You could be a little more gentle!"

"Just do what it is your going to do!"

Melanie sighed and said to the bird, "It's alright, we're not going to hurt you." She took the cloth and wrapped it around the joint of the wing that had been snapped. "There, all done"

The boy released the bird's beak; slowly it heaved itself off the ground. It was enormous, as tall as they were! It looked at the boy for a moment, it's head cocked to one side and coming slightly downward. Then it shifted its gaze to the girl who had mended her wing, the girl raised her hand in a gesture of greeting. Then, remarkably, the bird seemed to bow. The boy watched in astonishment, yes it was bowing. Melanie stood also in awe, after a few moments the bird lifted it's head, flexed its wings, and took off into the night.

The boy and Melanie stared up into the sky, watching it as it disappeared from sight.

"What was that?" asked Melanie

The boy could only stay silent, after a few seconds he finally spoke. "It was a magnificent creature."

"Yeah, it was"

They stood there, looking up at the night sky. And soon the awe and astonishment were replacing with calm the dove white bird had left in its wake.

"Come on" said the boy, "We'd better get back before everyone finds out how long we've been gone."

"Yeah, wouldn't want them to worry too much"

They walked back to the camp, where a very angry Gawain was waiting for them.


	9. Chapter 9: The war expands

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 9: The war expands

"…And you are certain the medallion was with them" asked Ashnard

"Yes" replied the Black Knight

Ashnard gave a small, audible chuckle "the obstacle that was Gawain is now dead" He then turned to the Black Knight, "Has our 'worm' worked its way into the group?"

"Yes" came the reply, "the worm is now a trusted member of the company"

Ashnard gave a short, hardy laugh that echoed through the throne room "Excellent, everything is going according to plan."

"I did meet someone peculiar at port Toha"

Ashnard frowned, "Who?" he asked knowing that the Black Knight would not be giving him this information if he did not need it.

"The prime minister of Begnion"

"What! Has he caught onto our plan?" asked Ashnard aghast

"He gave no indication" said the Black Knight, "however he gave me a message for you. 'Over ambition leads to ruin'"

"Hah! Foolishness!" was Ashnard's reply

Under his helmet the Black Knight grimaced, obviously the mad king did not get the full meaning of his message.

"We will proceed with the next phase of my plan," said Ashnard, "Your next target is Gallia, tread cautiously you must not bring Gallia's full might to bear."

"Understood, by your leave I would like to depart at once"

"I have already assembled your and General Petrine's army, go and bring me the head of the beast king!"

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It was hot and humid as Nathan stood with his master at the boarder of Gallia, all around him an army of at least half a million soliders were preparing for invasion into the sub-human territory. His master stood talking to general Petrine about the military strategy, beside her was the young tactician Ena.

Nathan looked around over whelmed with excitement, finally something happening in his life! He was going to be part of a war! No, not just a war an invasion! He was about to take part in the most historical event in Daein history, the fall of the beast warriors! Nathan thought back to his earlier encounter with the old crone at port Toha, so this is what that old crone had meant. How was she able to foresee this? Right now he really did not care. He put a hand to the Fire tomb he was carrying, the only thing that was on his mind right now was how many sub-human freaks he would get to torch.

A squad of wyvern riders made their descent into the camp, Nathan recognized the man in the lead immediately. It was sir Shiharam; the man next to him was his deputy commander Haar. Nathan had only met them once before, when his master took him on that trip to Talrega. They were very decent people, as far as foreigners go. Nathan looked around, where was Jill? She said she would be riding with her father the next time he saw her. 'She probably didn't make the cut' he thought, too bad she was going to miss out.

A man in gleaming white armor strode to greet the dismounting wyvern riders, Nathan also recognized him. It was sir Taruoneo of the royal guard of Daein; Nathan met him on several occasions around the Daein castle. Most of which involved beating him silly in several games of chess.

Nathan looked to the sky, more wyvern riders made their descent. Somehow he knew more would come the next day, king Ashnard was sparing no expense for this. And to think he would give a hand in it! Nathan grinned, wait till his family got wind of this!

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The night air was still as the Black Knight strode through the dead, deserted village that lay on the edge of the Gallian boarder. He had used his warp powder to successfully infiltrate Gallia in order to get here, the warping powder always did come in handy without it he would have perished with his mother long ago.

He surveyed his surroundings; the old houses still looked the same even after all these years. He still remembered who lived inside every house, or _used_ to live inside every house.

He would always remember the people who cared for them.

He stopped at an old, dead wood fence. Beyond it was a vast field of nothing but the dusty dead soil, and an old wooden cross in the middle. The Black Knight unlatched the rusty old lock and strolled through to the middle. He looked forlornly down at the little wooden cross, this field used to be full of sunflowers. He remembered how she would come down here every morning, and just sit there among them and talk to them.

Obviously sunflowers were her favorite.

The Black Knight put a hand to the cross, remembering the terrible despair and murder.

Melanie…

'She must hate it here' he thought, 'she always was a vibrant, overly-hyper girl'

He took his hand from the cross and began to leave, 'don't worry Melanie, I'll bring you something next time…'


	10. Chapter 10: Forwarning

(A/N): No you are not imagining things, the chapters are getting shorter

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 10: Forewarning

_Gallia… _

Nathan eyes shot open to the sight of burning tents and fire all around him. He could hear shouts of pain, the renting of flesh, the clash of steel against something equally durable. He could smell burning flesh, and saw the flaming bodies of Daein soliders both of those he knew and those he did not. He could hear growls, howls, and snarls all around him. Then finally what appeared to be a large cat stepped out of the shadows, followed by a larger tiger. He turned and saw another tiger, and another, and another. He was completely surrounded with no chance of escape. He reached for the fire tome at his side only to find it was not there, the color drained form his face. All hope was lost, the beast circled around him slowly. Then, after a few tense heart-pounding moments, the cat creature pounced.

_Castle ishmar…_

Nathan expected searing pain as the claws dug into his chest, but felt none. He opened his eyes and found himself no longerin the burning camp, but in a wide stone room. One desk occupied the room; behind it was a large man. Obviously laguz, Nathan looked around in confusion. Another laguz man suddenly appeared running before him, and Nathan realized that the man must have run right through him. It was as if he were a ghost, maybe he was dead.

"Commander, beroc have been spotted just outside of Gallia!" cried the man

The commander lifted his head, "How many?" he asked

"A lot sir, a massive invasion force."

"Filthy humans" said the commander, "They think they can just march in and take Gallia for themselves? Ha! Who do they think they're dealing with? Another weakling human nation? Well we'll show them up!"

He turned to the other laguz man, "You say they just sit there outside of Gallia?"

"Yes, commander Falsetto"

"Then we will take the fight to them! We'll crush them before they could ever set foot in our homeland!"

"Bu-but sir, that's against the king's orders!"

"His highness won't know until I've put my plan into action, and by then the human invaders will be dead and destroyed." Falsetto said with a smirk. "Now go, ready the troops!"

"Y-yes sir!"

Nathan watch as the laguz ran into him, then looked behind to see him running out into a dimly lit corridor.

_Attack…_

Nathan suddenly found himself floating over the encampment of the Daein army at an incredible height. He just looked down on it, thinking this was his last chance to see it before he met with the Goddess. Suddenly, out of the sea of trees came a large force of beast warriors headed directly for the camp. Nathan watched as half of the rushing wave broke off to the side and ran in a curve. He realized then what their strategy was, he had read about it in one of the old war books in his father's study. This was a standard pincer maneuver; half the force would rush in a direct assault while the other half would break off for a sneak attack directed toward the enemy's flank. Nathan was actually quite impressed; imagine a sub-human having any tactical knowledge at all?

_It will come at first light, the day after today…_

It suddenly turned night; the invading force disappeared into thin air. Nathan suddenly felt heavy, and he began to fall. He had not enough breath reserved for screaming, he fell wordlessly down into the camp. The voice echoed in his mind in jumbles of words, words he knew and words in a foreign language. The ground rushed up to meet him.

His eyes opened.

He bolted upright on his bed, breathing heavily and sweating. His hand grasp the covers, the color of his face was pale as a ghost.

But he was not a ghost, he was alive.

And he gripped the strange, glowing stone in his hand.


	11. Chapter 11: Attack of the beast warriors

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

**Chapter 11: Attack of the beast warriors**

The Black Knight listened as Nathan drabbled on about some dream he had last night. 'The boy must have been drunk' he thought to himself, 'snuck in more than a pint of whisky last night.' To interrupt a war council and expecting to keep his life, he most certainly had to be.

"Gallia's plan is to separate their main force in two," said Nathan, "One half is to attack us head on while the other is to attack form behind-"

"Pardon my interruption dear boy," said a voice from the council.

"Oh, uh…yes General Petrine, what is it ma'am?"

"You say these sub-humans are splitting their main force, one to attack our front lines to serve as a distraction? And another to attack out flack?"

"Yes ma'am, it's called a pincer maneuver," replied Nathan.

"Do not think me ignorant boy, I know what it is."

"Oh, sorry ma'am"

"My question is this: how could a sub-human commander know of such tactics when only humans are capable of formulating strategies?"

"Well, uh, I'm not sure ma'am. I'm only telling you what I saw."

"Can you also tell us what you had to drink?"

The men in the tent gave a not so silent laugh at that.

'Imbecile' thought the Black Knight. After this humiliation was over he would severely punish the boy, perhaps even kill him.

But then, there was something different about him. It was not that he had lost his mind; he certainly did not act like he did. The Black Knight could not be sure, but he sensed that his young steward had gained a new power. Though it felt, strange and distorted. Not powerful, but vast. Yes a vast, far-reaching incredible power.

A power he could make his own.

All he had to do was see if it was really there.

"Ready the troops" he said, speaking for the first time.

Petrine turned, visibly shocked "Black Knight, surly you cannot mean…"

"Ready the troops, General Petrine" he said once more.

"No" was the reply. Petrine was struggling to keep from simply exploding, "You may listen and believe this boy's illogic drabble. But I, Black Knight, will not be made a fool of!"

The Black Knight turned to her, "His royal highness, King Ashnard, has granted me the rank of senior officer during this mission Petrine. Than means you are my subordinate, and that means you will follow my orders without question. Do you understand?" He put a hand to the hilt of Alondite, "of course, if you do not think me worthy of that title, simply say the word and I will prove it myself."

Petrine grimaced, but said no more as she walked out of the tent, Ena not far behind.

The Black Knight turned to Nathan, who was also as visibly shocked as Petrine. If this experiment turns out the way he thought it would then the boy would become a very handy tool.

If not, he would simply kill him.

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Gallia's army charged toward an unsuspecting enemy, a coagulation of tigers and cats running to meet the foe on their boarders. One of them, the tiger in the lead, gave a loud roar. In an instant the gigantic wave of beasts split in two, the other half swerving off a good distance away from the main group.

The plan was initiated; the element of surprise was theirs.

A loud, nerve-wracking screech filled the air.

They looked to the sky and saw a cloud of screeching wyverns, their riders poised and ready to strike.

"Now" cried Shiharam, as he and the riders behind him rained javelins on the feral creatures.

The beast warriors ceased their advance as the javelins struck the ground and flesh. Paladins and soliders charged both at their front and flank, wyverns attacking from above.

It was a trap.

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Nathan stood quietly among the other mages; dressed in a regular mages cloak he figured no one would recognize him. The Black Knight had tried to keep him within the camp, tried to keep him away from the battle. He wanted to hoard the glory for himself, and make others completely forget who had warned him. But Nathan would not be held down, not this time. He would fight in this battle even if it meant certain death, either from the fight, or from the Black Knight's punishment.

Nathan froze as Taruoneo walked past him, making sure his hood hid his face completely. He had to be careful, one mistake and he would be thrown out of the battle.

"Sir, they approach!" cried a solider

Taruoneo stared out into the horizon; the beast warriors were drawing near. In a moment this would be the site of a great battle.

"Positions!" he yelled, "everyone to your positions!"

Nathan was lost, so he followed the other mages as best as he could amidst all the confusion. He watched as Taruoneo brandished his lance and pulled his visor down, then turned his back to the men. He thought he was going to make some sort of heroic speech, and was disappointed there had been none.

The sub-humans were approaching fast; Nathan gripped the fire tome at his side with both hands. What he felt was not fear, but exhilaration. He was no longer the cowardly boy who hid under tables; he was a solider in a war.

They hit them hard and fast.

Nathan looked around, all of a sudden there was battle going on all around him. Claws renting flesh, weapons tasting blood, and he, a mere boy, was lost and confused among it all. He looked form left to right, entranced by the death and devastation around him, of all the blood and bodies falling before him. The smell of blood gushing, tuning the ground soft, it made him want to vomit.

He tuned in order to avoid seeing a faceless corpse fall before his feet, and came face to face with a tiger. At first the two just stared at each other. And in that short duration of time, Nathan remembered why he was here. He was here to bring honor and glory to his family name, he was here to have the adventure of a lifetime, and he was here to prove himself.

The tiger lunged

Instinctively, Nathan put his hand forward. A shot of flame erupted from his palm and struck the beast square in the face.

Nathan stared back at the unmoving figure. He moved closer and could smell the burnt flesh where the face had used to be. He simply could not believe what he saw, lying before him was his first kill.

A roar came from behind him.

Nathan turned and saw another tiger rushing at him, ready to avenge it's fallen comrade.He hesitated before putting out his hand and shooting the fireball. The tiger dodged and continued to charge. There was no time to shoot another; this was the end.

An axe swooped down out of nowhere.

Nathan opened his eyes and saw the tiger lying dead with a laguz axe in its spine.

For a moment he stood there, stupefied with shock. He jumped as he heard the crack of the spine as the axe dislodged itself from the newly made corpse.

"You're awfully young to be fightin' in any wars don't you think boy?" said a voice.

If Nathan heard him, he gave no indication. He simply stared at the corpse.

"Yeah, the near-death thing gave me quite the shock my first time to" said the voice, "But you get over it eventually."

Nathan felt a hand pat his shoulder and the man walked off, he could hear shouts and screams, but they were all ones of joy. The victorious army brandished their weapons in victory. But he continued to stare at the newly dead all around him. Ashamed that he could do nothing to help, that he was useless on the battlefield.

That was war

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The Black Knight strode thought the battlefield, hacking down the demi-humans wherever he went. Taking on a whole regiment by himself, killing at least twenty out of every one hundred. It was childsplay for him, purely childsplay.

A cat lunged at him from behind, seemingly flying though the air. With one movement as fast and sudden asthe blink of an eye, it was a corpse on the ground. Cleaved in half and bloodied, it lay there as the Black Knight strode on.

A tiger, bigger than the ones he had previously faced, appeared in front of him. The Black Knight stood, that being the only indication that he had noticed him. It lunged, and the Black Knight dogged. He decided to have a little fun before finishing this one, he dogged again. Its attack pursued him, yet it might as well have been as if he were standing still. 'This is too easy' he thought as he dogged another attack, 'If this is all Gallia has to offer, taking this pathetic nation of half-breeds will be less than a challenge.'

Suddenly there was a shift in power inside the beasts. All around him, the sub-humans began to revert back to their human form, or at least what could be vaguely considered _human_. Now the beast warriors were truly doomed.

The Black Knight faced the man he had been fighting, the expression of fear in his face truly priceless. "All too easy" he said as he cleaved him in half with one powerful stroke.


	12. Chapter 12:Death

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 12: Death

Nathan was lost in a raging sea of thought, as he strode through the courtyard of the newly taken Gallian castle. This was castle Ishmar, the source of the day's previous attack. They had chased down the fleeing Gallians back to their base, where they finished off every sub-human they saw. Now the base was theirs, a powerful, well-placed attack point for their assault on the Gallian capital.

He sighed and looked up into a clear night sky. He had fought in a battle, survived, and even made his first kill. He had served his country, and fought with honor befitting that of a knight. And, for the first time in his life, he had been a part of something that would go down into the history of Daein. A something that would lift the dark cloak of shame on his family, something that could restore its glory.

So then, why did he feel this way?

Why did he feel as if he had done nothing? Why did he feel as if he failed?

But he knew why, it had been there in the back of his mind. From the moment his magic tasted blood he knew that this would not be his path to honor and glory. His would be a different way, not paved with the blood of his enemies, but created with the power that fate had now endowed upon him.

He clutched the oracle stone in a balled fist, his new path to glory.

'Yes' he thought as he gazed upon the crystal in his hand, 'this will be the way'

It was the last thought he ever had.

The Black Knight looked down on the bleeding body that was once his servant. Of course, it was easy enough to dispatch of the boy. He was too weak, he could have never held his own in an actual battle. With all the commotion, the killing, the death all around you. It's enough to suffocate even the most hardened of warriors, not including himself of course. The boy would have never lasted two seconds.

But he was what he was, just like his father, and his entire weakling family. He regretted not being there to see the look on their faces when they hear that their son was slain by him, his master. Regretted to miss seeing the sadness, the pain, the anger. Perhaps he should deliver the message himself, after all what could any of them do about it?

He looked into the palm of his hand, there, emitting a sort of rainbow like aura, was the source of the boy's power. If there were anything the Black Knight would have thanked him for, it would be bringing such a marvelous power to him.

He scoffed and walked away.

He came to a small lake overshadowed by a willow tree, the nightlife still active around it.

He covered the stone in a balled fist and began concentrating all of the energy in his armor to activate the stone.

'So much energy' he thought, 'how was the boy able to do it without exhausting himself?'

The Black Knight was becoming very tired; his fist shone a faded light blue.

Suddenly, words appeared in his mind. There were many, soon they were voiced out. There was a constant torrent of chants and sayings in all different kinds of languages; it was almost enough to drown the mind. But the Black Knight knew that this meant that it must be working, his fist trembled as he forced more power into the ancient relic.

And suddenly, there was no lake, and there was no tree, and it was no longer night. The Black Knight stood in the center of a field of sunflowers, gently swaying in the breeze. He looked form left to right, only seeing the long stalks of the plants reaching to the heavens.

'What manner of vision is this?' he thought.

Maybe the all he had to do was make his way through the field. He reached for Alondite, intending to chop down every one of these infernal plants. His hand reached the hilt; he drew it from his sheath.

And held in his left hand, a small workers knife.

'What in the name of the goddess…' he thought, as he realized something else. He looked at the hand that held the knife, and saw, for the first time in nearly thirty years, the color of flesh instead of metal.

"What is this?" he asked himself out loud before he realized his voice was different. It sounded like that of a young boy's, but that was impossible.

He looked around and saw a puddle. He hastily waked toward it, half expecting to see a man covered form head to toe in black armor.

What he saw instead, was a boy with black hair and eyes starring back. He wore a white workers shirt and pants, and he held a knife in his left hand.

The Black Knight stumbled away form the water, real shock crossed his face for the first time since he was a child.

And he was that child again.

"What is going on?" he asked himself, "have I been deceived?"

"Hey! Where are you?" called a voice.

The Black Knight turned; he could hear the sound of the flowers being pushed out of the way. This person, if it _was_ a person, could maybe provide some answers. He tightened his grip on the knife, it was no Alondite but it would have to do.

"Hey! Can you hear me!" called the voice again.

He could tell by the shrillness of it that it was female, a girl's, that would perhaps make it easier for him to extract the information he needed from her.

"I'm goanna find you!" called the voice, "You can't hide from me!"

He could imagine the girl bursting out of the flowers; he would knock her to the ground and put the knife to her throat. He could almost see the fear in her eyes as he asked her about this entire accused place.

"I'm coming!" the voice called

That voice… he could not be sure, but it sounded like he had heard it before.

"Gotcha!" said the girl, as she jumped out of the forest of stalks.

The Black Knight dropped the knife, his eyes wide with shock.

There standing before him, was a girl. She had blue eyes and golden hair; she was dressed up in a pink dress most suited for an outing into a town.

"M-Melanie?"

"Yeah, who'd ya expect? Gawain?"

That could not be…it was impossible…wasn't it?

"I-Is that really you, Melanie?"

"No" the girl replied, "I'm a cow dressed up as Melanie, and am using my mind powers to make me look like Melanie to you. While the real Melanie is back at the barn, naked on all fours grazing on wheat."

The girl, expecting him to laugh, only got a blank stare as a reply.

She laughed a little, "I'm kidding! Of course I'm Melanie, who else would I be?"

The boy still stared blankly at her.

"Hey are you okay?" she asked, "You look like you've seen a ghost"

The boy was stupefied

"Ooohoho, I get it," said the girl, "you're just playing dumb because I smoked you in the race back to the house."

He could not believe it. It was her, Melanie, stand in front of him alive and as energetic as ever. This was a vision, it had to be, a cruel trick of fate.

"Melanie" he said

"Yeah"

"Take my hand," he said as he stretched his hand out.

"Why?" she asked

"Please, just do it"

She reached out and took it, and it held.

The boy's eyes widened with surprise, not from the fact that none of this was a vision, but because it had been so long since he felt the touch of another living being.

Melanie took his hand into both of hers, the softness of her touch bringing the boy to tears.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Sobbing, he embraced her. He could feel her body stiffen from the suddenness of it all.

"I-I've missed you so much" he said in between sobs, "I can't-I can't believe it's really you Melanie!"

He felt her arms wrap around him, "It's okay, it's okay"

"It-it's been so long"

They stayed like that for a few moments, before they finally let go.

"You better now?" she asked

"Yes" he said, wiping his face.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she said

For the first time in an eternity, the boy smiled.

They began to walk home, after a few seconds Melanie cried out: "race ya!" and took off.

The boy followed suite, laughing as he chased his childhood friend. It was not a vision! It was all real; she was real! She was alive! It did not matter how it happened, it just did. And now he could make things right, He could make it so that she never died, so that none of them ever died. He could make it so that they would live happily, and he would never have to seek the armor or the swords. He would never become the cold-hearted killer that was the Black Knight, he would be damned if he ever held a sword again! He, she, all of them, would live in a life of happiness.

He stumbled as he came out into a clearing; his laugh stifled itself.

A figure incased from head to toe in black armor stood before him, his crimson cape flapping in the breeze.

The boy took a step back, 'No' he thought, 'no'

Melanie stood before it.

"Melanie, run!" he yelled.

She would not move

"Melanie!" he tried again

The figure unsheathed Alondite

"No, Melanie!" he tried to run, but his feet refused to move.

The figure brought the sword above his head.

"Melanie!"

The blade came down

"NOOOOO!"

He woke

And standing in the middle of a frozen lake, was a figure wrapped in robes that trailed at its feet like a black mist.

The Black Knight glared at it with burning hatred as he unsheathed Alondite.

The figure raised a hand as black as it's robes, it pointed a finger at him.

_You killed her _said the voice.

A hand rose up from the ground a few feet from it. A head, then a body, followed the hand. It was the body of a Gallian solider, the last one the Black Knight had killed. It advanced toward him; the Black Knight cleaved it in half with one stroke of his sword.

An image flashed in his mind, an old wooden cross in the midst of a dead field.

He blinked it off; more of them were coming. Not only bodies of Gallians that had died during the previous battle, but of civilians, soldiers both Crimean and Daein, and others he did not recognize.

He swung his sword and killed another, an image flashed again. This was one of an entire village set a flame. He blinked it back as he took another body's head off. Another image, one of a burning boat.

_You killed them_

"No!" he yelled as the living dead surrounded him, chanting the three accursed words. He slash back at them, more images flooded his mind. A field of sunflowers burning, bodies freshly killed and bleeding upon the stone ground, a swarm of ravens, a woman lying in a pool of her own blood on the deck of a ship, a girl smiling at him, her nightgown stained red and fire all around her…

He slashes became more frantic and less precise. They surrounded him; he felt one jump onto his back. They pulled him down, his grip on Alondite loosened. More and more images burned in his mind, a burning cross, the flash of a sword, screaming, blood spilling, death, destruction, burning, burning, burning…

Then, darkness

* * *

The Black Knight woke to find himself on the bank of a pond; there was a searing pain in his hand. It had been a long time since he had felt pain. He got up, embedded in the soft mud was Alondite. It came to his hand; he transferred it to the other. He inspected his left hand; there was a hole in his armor covered in blood. It had been a long time since he saw himself bleed. 

It had been a long time since he felt so many things. Pain, anger, joy, sadness, fear, when was the last time he laughed? The last time he cried? It was as if he was no longer human.

Then he remembered, he was no longer human. Only humans feel emotions.

"It was all a vision" he said to himself, "it wasn't real"

But it had felt so; he felt so many things.

Melanie…

He walked away, the image of the girl still in his mind. So alive, so real…

He did not even realize the power that showed him all this, the stone, was gone.


	13. Chapter 13:Memoir of the past

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 13: Memoir of the past: The prisoner

The boy woke fitfully from his dream to the sounds of a camp in chaos. Yelling, clattering, crashing, even an occasional scream could be heard. The boy grunted and pulled the sheets over his head, refusing to get up no matter what time it was. He managed fall half-asleep before he felt something jab him in the side. He turned and looked up to see General Gawain looming over him.

"Get up and get dressed" he said, as he tossed a bundle of cloths at him.

"What's going on sir?" the boy asked as he pulled on the newly washed tunic Gawain had given him.

"We're being relocated," said Gawain

"Where?"

"A place called Palmeni Temple"

The boy looked up and turned his attention to Gawain for a moment, "On whose orders?"

"Lord Ashnard's"

The boy could see something was not right, "Why?"

Gawain gave a sigh, "We are to guard a…special prisoner"

"I see"

"So get ready, we're shipping out in ten minutes" and with that, Gawain turned and left.

The boy got up, now fully dressed, and began to pack. Ten minutes, how long had he been asleep?

* * *

Looming over the forest, darkened by snowy skies, was the bell tower of Palmeni temple. Finally, after nearly a month, their destination came into view. 

"Oh, thank goodness!" said Melanie, "another few days and I would have probably never gotten up again"

The boy looked to her, all wrapped up in cloaks and a scarf. "Well we used to do this all the time."

She looked to him, "Really?"

"Yep, before we found you we used to traverse twice this distance to get to our assigned post" of course, this was the first time the boy ever journeyed this distance himself. He had just heard tales from when the men talked and had drunk a little too much ale.

The boy and Melanie looked forward; in the lead were Gawain and Elena.

"They seem really happy together," he said

"Yeah" Melanie replied, "Sis is doing really well for herself"

The boy looked back at her, "Elena is your sister?"

Melanie looked back, "Yeah, you didn't know that?"

The boy was at a loss for words, how could he respond without looking so ignorant? "Well…"

"So let me get this straight, you've known me for how long?"

"A month or two"

"And you didn't know, all this time, that Elena was my sister?"

"Well…Um…"

"…Wow… that is really something"

The boy turned and looked forward, "I thought her hair was black"

He could hear Melanie laugh quietly next to him as they came to the steps of Palmeni. Gawain stopped and, as if they were all of one mind, the others stopped to. The boy could see Gawain saying a few words to Elena and Taruoneo. Then he walked up and stepped into the temple, Taruoneo raised both his hands to the group of soliders.

"What's going on?" asked Melanie

"Gawain wants us to wait while he makes sure this is the right place," replied the boy

They waited for a few minutes until Gawain came out and signaled the rest of them to enter the temple. Inside the place was well ornamented with statues and brass decor, there were many statues of Ashera around among other things. And, of course, no temple would be complete without its fair share of priests.

Gawain stood next to an old man in a white robe and a brass staff that shone like gold.

"Men this is bishop Hugo", Gawain said "he is the current bishop here and head of the temple"

Many of the soliders, including Taruoneo, Melanie, and Elena, bowed their heads in reverence and respect.

"Now, his Excellency…" he said as he looked to Hugo, "…has stated that he will not allow men who have stained their hands with blood to enter the temple. Unless they agree to take a moment of solarence to atone for their sins, so I want everyone to take a moment and ask for forgiveness for anything you may have done. And be honest, you all know what happens to a man who lies in a prayer."

So all the men obeyed their commander's orders, and knelt and prayed.

"What happens to a man who lies in a prayer?" whispered Melanie

"It is said that Ashera will never trust that man again and will no longer give her blessings to him," replied the boy.

"Oh" she said as she turned back to the alter, "Glad I'm a girl"

After a few moments of solemn silence, Gawain ordered the men to stay where they were while he, Taruoneo, Elena, Melanie, and the boy followed bishop Hugo to take a look at the prisoner. They followed him down a somewhat secret entrance that lead to a much less decorative chamber, stone walls and torches hung up for light made it actually look like a prison. As they approached the end of the staircase, the boy and the others began to hear voices.

"Who is that?" asked Gawain

"It must be Toenami," replied Hugo, "He's talking to that infernal beast again"

'Infernal beast?' thought the boy, suddenly getting an idea of whom the prisoner might be. They soon found the boy, Toenami, sitting next to an iron and wood door and talking to it.

"Toenami!" called Hugo

Toenami bolted up out of his seat, "yes your Excellency?"

"If I've told you once I've told you a hundred times, stop talking to it"

"Yes your Excellency"

"Go back up with the other priests"

Toenami nodded and ran back up the stairs, not looking at the newly arrived guests.

Bishop Hugo sighed and took, seemingly from thin air, a key and opened the door.

"There is your prisoner," said Hugo

In the dimly lit room, the boy could see a figure like an angel sitting on a bed looking down at her lap. Blonde hair, white wings, and astonishing blue eyes, not to mention the proportions of her body. It was a very beautiful creature, yet the boy knew, for all it's beauty that it was still a worthless half-human monster. A monster that did not deserve to be held captive in a temple made for those beings that were worthy of Ashera's blessings.

"She seems so sad," said a voice from behind him

Both Gawain and the boy turned and looked at Elena, who was staring at the creature and looking sad herself.

"Can't you do something to make her stay here more comfortable?" she asked Hugo.

"Madam," said bishop Hugo " that creature, along with the rest of it's kind, is an abomination and a mockery of all intelligent life on this world. I hardly see the need."

A voice echoed through the chamber, calling: "Sir Gawain, sir Gawain are you in there?"

"Yes he's in here," replied Taruoneo

The sound of leather shoes making their descent down the staircase replaced the voice.

"Looks like we're going to have company" said Gawain

A man with graying hair dressed in red robes soon stood before them, judging by the robes and the book hanging at his side via leather straps, the boy could see he was probably a wielder of magic.

"Sirs Gawain and Taruoneo," the man said extending his hand for a shake, "I must say, tis' an honor to meet you. I am Pathos, leader of regiment seven, and, most recently, eight and nine."

"A pleasure Pathos," said Gawain, the boy could tell Gawain was a lying, "As you know, I am Gawain and this is my sub-commander Taruoneo"

"Ah, and who might this gracious, young woman be?" Pathos asked, looking at Elena

"I'm Elena" she replied, as she offered her hand for a shake

"The pleasure is mine, madam" said Pathos, as he took her hand and gave it a light kiss. "I must say you look quite lovely in this dim light"

Next to him, the boy could see Melanie cross her arms and frown, Gawain could also be seen frowning with arms crossed. Elena obviously did not like the man being so forward in displaying his affections; Taruoneo did not seem to like the man either as he did not, nor did he seem to want to, shake his hand. No surprise there, it was obvious to everyone in the room, with the possible exception of bishop Hugo, that Pathos was just putting on airs. He was trying to appeal to other commanders of a higher rank, possibly so that they may nominate him for a promotion. His courtesies were common and shallow, except perhaps to Elena, whom he obviously wanted to get into bed with.

"Thank you, sir Pathos" said Elena as she removed her hand from his

Pathos turned and finally found him and Melanie, "And who are these children?" he asked rather gruffly.

"My name is Melanie, and I am not a child" she replied, putting emphasis on the word "not".

Pathos shrugged and turned to the boy, "and what is your name?"

The boy did not like the man, and he expressed no desire to give his name, but he would anyway.

"My name is-"

"Oh, is that the prisoner?" asked Pathos, rudely cutting in. He began to walk into the chamber, towards the prisoner.

"Careful, sir" said bishop Hugo, "she is a very dangerous beast"

"Not to worry, my good man" said Hugo, "I am skilled in many forms of magic, if it does attack, it will find me not to be easy prey."

With that having been said, he continued to move towards the prisoner until he stood before her. She did not seem to notice him, and continued to stare down.

"Hello there" he said to her while kneeling down so as to be level with her face, "I said hello"

The prisoner gave no response, Pathos turned back to Gawain, "Has a bit of a speech problem, wouldn't you say Gawain?"

Gawain gave no response

"But it is quite the pretty little thing, that you cannot deny" he continued, as he took her chin and lifted her face up to meet his. The prisoner, at first, avoided looking at him. But then suddenly she was full of vigor and rage; she looked him in the eyes and spat at him in the face.

Pathos recoiled and wiped his face, now seething with anger, he lifted his hand.

"You little wench!" he shouted as he brought the back of his hand down on her cheek. It landed with a loud "thwack" against her soft skin.

Not satisfied, Pathos brought the other hand to bear.

"Stop!" yelled Elena

Pathos paused in mid-slap and looked behind him.

"It would be best to stop, sir Pathos," said Gawain; "This prisoner obviously has no manners towards guests, but do not worry I will teach it proper respect."

Both Elena and Melanie looked back at him, even the boy looked back.

"Come, you must be tired after such a long journey" he continued, "I'm sure your men are tired as well."

"Yes, quite right" said Pathos, as he turned and walked away form the prisoner, " I must thank you for stopping me sir Gawain, I suppose I did get a bit ahead of myself."

"Think nothing of it," said Gawain

On the way back, Pathos continued to think about it and voice his thoughts. It annoyed the boy to the point where he wanted to rip the man's throat out. Gawain did not speak or respond back to his comments, so he just kept talking all the way up to the alter room.

"Now, of course being the leader of three regiments, I have far too many soliders for this rather tackily decorated place" Pathos said, putting much emphasis on the "three regiments" part. "I suppose my men and I must set up camp outside, won't we?"

"We do have a few rooms," said Gawain

"No, no you got here first and you are the higher ranking officer," said Pathos with much graciousness as he could squeeze into his voice.

Gawain shrugged at the refusal, "All right, if you don't want them"

The smile dropped form Pathos's face, "Well then, I'd better get going"

"Yes, I'm sure your three regiments need attending to"

"Well, then if you'll excuse me sir Gawain, lady Elena, I will see you both soon I hope"

And with that, he turned and headed out the door into the freezing cold.

"Somebody took a bit too much of humble pie, if you ask me" said Taruoneo as soon as Pathos was out of earshot.

Gawain laughed a bit and looked back at Elena, who looked distressed.

"I'm not really going to harm her Elena," said Gawain, "I just said that so that oaf would leave her alone."

"Oh" said Elena, "but you sounded like you meant it"

"I didn't"

"And I'm sure you all must be tired after a long journey as well" said a voice behind them.

They turned and found the owner of the voice was bishop Hugo, "If we are all done talking," he continued "Toenami would be happy to show you your rooms, I trust your men have gotten started on a good nights sleep sir Gawain?"

"Oh yes," said Gawain as he gave off a yawn, " I suppose it is about time for bed isn't it?"

"Lead the way, boy," said Taruoneo to Toenami

"Yes sir," replied the young priest "If you'll all follow me I'd be happy to show you to your rooms"

So Toenami lead the group up yet another spiraling staircase, with Melanie and the boy at the last end.

"Can you believe how cruelly that Pathos guy treated the prisoner?" Said Melanie, when Gawain, Elena, and Taruoneo were all in their rooms "What a jerk! Why would you do that to anyone?"

The boy did not answer, for he knew his reply would anger her. Yes Pathos was a bit harsh, but she was a sub-human for piety's sake! And sub-humans, no matter who or what they were, deserved no more respect than what Pathos had given. After all they had done to him, especially the bird tribes certainly gained this prisoner no piety from him.

"I know what you mean Ma'am" said Toenami, gladly entering the conversation "but you cannot really blame people like sir Pathos for behaving this way"

"You can't?" asked Melanie

"No" continued Toenami, "Were you born in Daein ma'am?"

"No, I was born in Begnion"

"Then you cannot know, but things like that are taught in Daein schools. Sir Pathos, like many other Daein citizens, has been taught since a young age that Laguz are evil and deserve no respect from them."

"Really?" she asked

"Yes" Toenami replied, "they are not even taught the word 'Laguz' they only know them by their insulting name 'sub-human'"

"But that's terrible!" said Melanie completely aghast "Why would they do that? They're almost the same as we are!"

'Almost the same as we are?' repeated the boy in his mind, knowing that was not true. Knowing that Laguz were cruel hearted beasts that would kill you as soon as look at you.

"They bleed the same color blood don't they?" Melanie continued, "They have wives and children like us, they feel the same emotions obviously, why do we have to be so cruel to each other? Why can't we all just get along?"

"The seeds of hatred and prejudice are sown deep and long since," said Toenami, "It is just the way it must be. Ashera must have some purpose for this long drawn out blood-feud"

"Well I just hope she ends it soon" said Melanie, "I don't like it when people hate for so long"

They came to a door, Toenami pulled out the keys and Melanie went in.

"Good night" she said to the two boys as she closed the door

A few more steps and the boy went into his room. He changed and fell on his bed, pondering and pondering about what Melanie had said.

Laguz…

Was it really true? Did the people of Daein not know any type of respect for Laguz? And they were taught this since birth? It was strange, but the boy felt saddened by this now that he thought about it. Daein's prejudice was something they did not necessarily have to feel, but something it's government, it's king, demanded. Why in the name of Tellius would they teach such a thing as prejudice?

He sighed; he had not been born in Daein, or had he? He could not really remember anymore, perhaps that is why he started to believe Melanie. Believe her? How could he believe her when he had witnessed their cruelty and blood lust for himself? But perhaps they were not all like that; perhaps it was just the bird tribes. Perhaps it was only the raven tribe, and this prisoner's tribe was different. She certainly did not display any want or need to hurt anyone, in fact she had looked pretty harmless. The only time she demonstrated hate towards something was when Pathos showed up, and if it were he in that situation he would do the same.

He sighed and pulled the covers over him, regardless of what her tribe was and how it acted, the prisoner was different. And his conclusion was that it was not an enemy, and should not be treated like one.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

(A/N): Just want to clarify, Ashnard's not a king yet, but he is a high ranking general. Also sorry this took so long, I planned to make it longer but decided to just cut it short here.


	14. Chapter 14: Memoir of the past

(A/N): Sorry this update took so long! I've had some technical difficulties lately, nothing serious just me being a moron. Also, sorry if I made the chapter too long.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 14: Memoir of the past: Prison break

Elena opened her door just a crack to see if anyone was still awake, though it was very unnecessary. But she could not be caught, she was not sure the others, except her sister of course, would understand what she was about to do. Gently she leaned on the door, it opened with a loud creak that echoed through the dark stairway. She stopped suddenly, though the door opened the rest of the way of its own accord, the creaking getting louder as it swung open faster. The brass doorknob hit the stonewall with a loud _thak_ once the door opened all the way. Instinctively, she took the door by one hand, balancing the basket with the other, and closed the door until only a crack was open. She stood for a few moments before she began to open the door slowly again.

She instantly stopped at the creaking sound. Sighing, she counted five seconds in her mind before she quickly jerked the door open. The creaking sound was high pitched and fast, she practically ran out of the room, turned and shut the door with a loud slam. She froze, her hand still on the knob, expecting to hear another door creaking open and someone asking her "what are you doing?" then she would be screwed. But no one came, she sighed with relief, took the basket with both hands, and began to walk down the stairs when she heard a creaking sound.

She turned only to see her own door opening itself again. She followed the stairs down; she would have to deal with that later.

She found herself in the prayer hall they were in the following afternoon, the brass décor now shining with moonlight. It would be hard to see the entrance to the basement in the dark. She looked around, careful not to step on anything that may cause noise and lead to potential trouble. She only just got here; she did not want to be thrown out.

Finally she found it, almost falling into it in the process. The torches on the side on the wall no longer lit the way, so it had been awhile before she decided to proceed. She took extra caution as she descended into the darkness, knowing that missing one step could mean a fatal accident. She managed to make it down all right; with a relived sigh she turned her attention to finding the right room.

She did not have to look far; as soon as she set foot on flat ground she heard a noise. No, not a noise, music. More like singing, but with no words, or words Elena did not understand. She placed a hand on the wall and felt her way to the prisoner's room. The door was open just a crack, she peaked through before opening it all the way.

"Hello" she said, as the door opened soundlessly

The beautiful melody stopped abruptly as the prisoner looked up at her.

"Um, I brought you some food. See?" she held the basket lid open, the warm smell of bread wafted into the room.

Elena came a bit closer; the prisoner did not react, but stared at her with wide eyes, no doubt confused by this strange beroc's behavior. Elena pulled up a wooden seat and sat face-to-face with her. They just stared at each other for a while before Elena remembered.

"Oh! The bread, right? Sorry, um…" she took a slice bread from the basket. "Here"

The prisoner stared at the bread in Elena's hand, as if it were the most alien thing in the world.

"I know it's strange, but it's not poisoned or anything. Look…" she took a bite out of the bread, then offered it back to her. "See? It's fine."

The prisoner stared at the bread, then looked to Elena again, who managed a nervous smile, then looked back at the bread. Finally, after several moments, she took it and ate.

Elena sighed and watched her eat for a few moments. Then she got up, "There's some jam in the basket too, it goes with the bread well." She began to walk backwards out the door, " I need to go, I left my room door open so they'll know I left." The prisoner did not appear to hear her, she finished the slice Elena had given her and had delved into the basket for a new one.

Elena closed the door on the way out, carefully walked up the stairs, and came back into the prayer room. The sky was a deep shade of blue that signified early morning; she must have taken longer to get down the stairs that she thought. She yawned as she stretched her back.

"Elena?" asked a voice.

Elena turned to see sir Gawain just out of the stairway leading to the rooms.

"Uh, hello sir Gawain" she said, a bit of nervousness in her voice. Now what? If he saw her come out of-

"What were you doing down in the prisoner's hold?" he asked, much to Elena's dismay.

"Uh, well…um" she had no excuses now, she might as well come clean with it. "I…was feeding the prisoner sir," she said with despair.

Gawain raised an eyebrow, "oh?"

Elena looked up at him; one of his arms was hidden behind his cloak, making him look sturdy and proud. She stiffened up; it was time to face the music.

"Yes sir, I had to do something!" she said, with more loudness in her voice than she intended, "didn't you see that poor thing? It was suffering! I-I couldn't take it! I had to do something! I-"

"Elena calm down" said Gawain, trying to get her to lower her voice.

"I'm sorry Gawain! I really am! But I just couldn't-" she paused in mid sentence to wipe a tear from her eye, "I couldn't take it, I couldn't bear to see her suffer like that. I-"

"Elena" said Gawain, breaking her off

"Y-Yes?"

Gawain pulled back his cloak, crooked under his right arm was a loaf of bread wrapped up in a bundle.

Elena said nothing, just stared.

"I took it from dinner last night," said Gawain, "but it seems you're slight of hand is more skilled. You even took the jam too."

He set the bread on a nearby bench; Elena ran toward him and locked him in an embrace. She covered her face in his shoulder and cried tears of relief. She felt his strong arms wrap around her and hold her.

"Oh, sir Gawain…" she managed to say.

"There there," he said in a soothing voice, "there, there"

* * *

It was nearly dark when the boy was asked to take over Toenami's duty of guarding the prisoner. Gawain had said it would comfort him best if one of his own were standing there, instead of weaponless priest. As he descended down into the chamber, the boy began to hear voices echoing up through the staircase. Toenami must be talking to the prisoner again. 

Suddenly a thought came to the boy, though it was highly unlikely. Still, what if Toenami was working with the prisoner to find a means of escape from the temple? It was entirely possible; he seems to like the dang thing so much. It would go against his vows as a clergyman, but he probably didn't like this place too much anyway.

It was only a thought, but it made the boy tense, what if there was a traitor in their midst? The boy would fight as hard as the others to get the prisoner back, of course. Even though he had decided the prisoner was not an enemy, and it was nothing personal that they kept her locked up here. They were basically just following orders, probably not the best excuse to use when dealing with another race that yours had been a war with for hundreds of years. Still, part of him said that she should not be here in captivity. Part of him told him that the prisoner should be as free as a bird, or in this case an angel.

He hated being torn like that, when he could not decide which one was more important, his orders of what he felt was right. Everything in his mind told him to follow orders, but his emotion always got in the way. Sometimes he wished he did not have them. But then what would he be? That was another question, what would a person without emotions be like?

The boy heard footsteps approaching him, and suddenly he realized that he was so caught up in his thoughts that he had forgotten to keep moving. A white robed figure appeared before him, it was Toenami.

"May I ask why you are here sir?" he asked

"Well, actually I was assigned the task to relieve you of the duty of guarding the prisoner" the boy replied, at the same time kind of embarrassed for thinking traitorous thoughts about the person he was currently speaking to.

"Oh, well then…" Toenami's voice sounded a tad disappointed, "You'll find it's not that hard. All you have to do is sit right there" he said as he pointed to an old oak chair next to the prisoners door, "and that's about it."

"I see…"

"Have fun" said Toenami, as he walked off up the stairs.

The boy walked up to the chair and sat. Everything was, for the most part, silent. It was so quiet in the stone chamber; you could hear the flames on the torches flickering up and down. The boy sighed and put his elbow on the armrest, then laid his head in the hand. He stared at the door of a chamber in front of him and wondered what he would find, furniture? A corpse? Nothing? Almost made him want to go and open it, if it was not for the fact that it was probably locked, and the boy was bone tired anyway. Though he did not know why, he really did not do anything today.

A soft melody came from the prisoner's room, a single, beautifully operatic voice. The boy paused in his thoughts for a moment and listened, it was like being in a trance. He did not know if that was just fatigue or the music. He felt he was dreaming, or at least half-asleep. The singing suddenly intensified, and soon it was not just the singer. Now the boy could hear instruments as well. Drums, guitars, flutes, he was assaulted by these sounds and more. It sounded like a lost memory, or a good bedtime story. It would have probably made a good lullaby that much was true. He knew he had to stay awake; he had to make sure the prisoner did not escape. If he closed his eyes now it would mean the prisoner could just walk out that door and flee, fly away like a white dove. He could almost see it happening, feel the breeze brush his face as the heron flapped its angelic wings and flew. Flew out into the sunset, and how the boy wished he could join her, join them, and be free of all troubles, guilt and sorrow.

And suddenly he looked behind him and there, attached as if they were always there, were his wings. He flew after the flock of herons, he wanted to catch up, he wanted to go with them to their haven. He wanted so badly for Melanie to come with him, he remembered. And there she was, flying right beside him on her own set of wings. She and Gawain and Elena and Taruoneo and Lillia. There next to him, glowing a white, heavenly light was his mother. He stared into her eyes, and for the first time he did not feel grief. They flew into the bright light.

* * *

"Wake up!" 

The voice echoed in his head

"Wake up!" it cried again, the boy opened his eyes and saw a pair of sandaled feet before him. He looked up and stared into Melanie's eyes.

"You okay?" she asked.

The boy got up, his joints feeling stiff from the hard stone floor. "What happened?" he asked

"You tell me"

"Huh?"

"You were on the ground when we found you"

Upstairs he could hear shouting and running feet.

"What's going on?" he asked

"Uh…" was the reply

The boy saw the prisoner's door was wide open

He peered inside. The prisoner, Lillia, was long gone.

"I was going to tell you…" said Melanie

"Why didn't you as soon as I woke up!" he asked

"Because I knew you would do that," she replied

The boy rushed passed her and upstairs into the prayer hall. People were searching frantically hi and low, in every chamber, for any trace of where the prisoner might be.

Melanie appeared next to him, "it's chaos" she said, "We don't know how and when she escaped. And…"

The boy turned to her, her face downcast to the floor.

"What?" he asked

"Elena's missing to…"

"How? Has she been taken hostage?"

Melanie turned to him, her eyes reflected anger. "You don't get it do you!"

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"Yes, she's gone and it's all your fault!"

Melanie and the boy turned and saw Pathos walking toward him and seething with anger. The boy wondered what his problem was, plenty of time to find that out later, right now he needed to see Gawain. He turned and began to walk off…

"Don't you run away from me!" yelled Pathos as a hand clamped the boy's wrist.

"Let go of me!" he said, wrenching his arm out of Pathos's grasp

"It's because of you the prisoner go away!" said Pathos again, "Do you know how furious lord Ashnard will be?"

"No, but I bet you're dying to find out" retorted the boy

"What was that!"

"You heard me! You selfish, inconsiderate, Lazy old dotard!"

"You little knave!" Pathos reached for his Elthunder tomb, "It seems I'll have to teach you some respect for those in command!"

"That's enough sir Pathos" came Gawain's voice behind him as he felt a sword hilt touch his shoulder.

Pathos spun around, "sir Gawain! Sir Taruoneo!" he managed to blurt out, "Y-you see t-the boy was being disrespectful-"

"If he is being disrespectful, be so kind as to report it to me and not take measures into your own hands" said Gawain

"Y-yes of course" Pathos responded with a nervous grin, "I am sorry if it seemed as if I meant any offense."

Gawain said nothing but nodded, Taruoneo also stayed quiet.

"Well, we should get back to the search shall we?" said Pathos, the tone in his voice changed drastically since he spoke to the boy. Pathos turned and walked quickly away form the group.

"Boy" said Gawain

"Yes sir?" replied the boy, sounding meeker that he would have wished.

"Take Melanie and join Taruoneo outside in the search for the prisoner"

"Yes sir" said the boy, he hung his head for a moment before he added hurriedly: "Sir I'm sorry that-"

"Don't worry about that now," said Gawain, cutting him short, "Just find the prisoner, then consider yourself forgiven" he said with a smile

"Yes sir"

"Where are you going sir Gawain?" asked Melanie from behind the boy

"I will join another search group," replied Gawain "Now let's move people!"

* * *

It was almost noon; the sun blazed its last moments of glory as a bright orange ball. 

"It's been hours, shouldn't we get back to the temple?" asked a tired Melanie

When no reply came she sighed and trudged on.

"This is all my fault," said the boy, breaking the long silence.

"Stop beating yourself up!" said Melanie, "We all make mistakes, and everybody needs sleep."

"But I shouldn't have fallen asleep while guarding the prisoner."

"Well blaming yourself isn't going to help us find her, or my sister, any quicker!"

The boy looked up and had to smile at her, she really knew how to cheer people up. Melanie smiled back.

"Melanie's right" Taruoneo said, "We'd best be getting back to camp before it's too dark"

They walked back in the opposite direction. The boy looked at their sub-commander, his face weary and worried. But what could he be worried about? The prisoner? He turned to Melanie and was surprised to see her face worried too. That was strange, but perhaps she had her sister on her mind. They continued to walk for what seemed like a few hours when Taruoneo spoke.

"I think I'll take a walk from here."

"What are you talking about?" asked the boy.

"I'm going to leave you two to walk back to the temple, you know the way right?"

"But…sir"

"Get yourself and Melanie back to the temple, that is an order understood?"

Something was definitely wrong; he looked into his commander's eyes and saw a readiness for battle. He did not know what was going on, but he would obey orders.

"Yes sir"

Taruoneo smiled, "Good boy, see you soon" and with that he walked off.

It was just the two of them.

"We'd better get going," said the boy

Melanie said nothing

They walk on for a few minutes before Melanie asked to stop.

"What's wrong?" asked the boy

Her response was more grunted than said.

"What?"

"There's something in my dress"

"Oh? What is it?"

I don't know, I need to take it off"

With a sigh the boy turned around, he heard her shuffling around.

"You know, it's not your fault your sister ran off with the prisoner." He said

The shuffling stopped

"She's not-"

"I know the truth Melanie, I know that she couldn't bear to see anything suffer like that. I know she let her go."

There was a long pause; he could not think on anything else, this kind of stuff was not his specialty.

"And…uh…"

A sharp pain jolted in the back of his head, and he fell to the floor. His head spun and his vision blurred, but he was still conscious. He turned and saw a stone lying next to him and Melanie fleeing into the woods.

He muttered a curse and gave chase.

* * *

Elena waited patiently for night to come. The moon was full and it was almost time, watching her pace back and forth nervously was Lillia the prisoner. She gave a cough as she watched and waited, all both of them could do was wait and hope they were not followed. They were in an area only Elena knew about, an apple orchard. Yes, and apple orchard in the middle of the forest was a bit strange, she came here every night on her daily midnight stroll. She usually picked a few apples from the tree and put them in a basket for the others the following day. 

She did not do so now.

It was almost time. They would meet Melanie in the rendezvous point and…

And what?

And go to Serenes Forest…

How?

That was the million-dollar question.

But they would make it somehow, after coming this far they had to. The fate of the entire continent depended on it, if the Heron spoke the truth. Even after all this she still had trouble believing what Lillia said, about the medallion, lord Ashnard's plans…

"Elena…"

Elena spun around, though she knew who it was. She always had a feeling he would find her, she was half hoping he would find her.

"Sir Gawain…"

He stood there, his black armor silhouetted in the light of the full moon.

"…Sir Gawain" she said again, "you have to listen."

"I'm listening," he said

She looked back a Lillia, who had her head downcast and coughed. She turned back to Gawain and removed something from around her neck.

"This" she said

"What is that?"

"This is Lehran's Medallion" she said, "This is what Lord Ashnard wants"

"You can't be serious,…" said Gawain, "The same Medallion from the legends?"

"Yes, and Ashnard wants to use it to take control of the entire continent!"

"What?"

"You have to believe us! Please sir Gawain; let us go to Serenes forest!" she pleaded, sounding like a little kid asking for a new toy, "Let us stop this before it begins!"

Gawain said nothing for a few moments; the silence was suffocating Elena. What would he say? What happens if he did not let them go?

Finally his reply came, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you go alone"

"But sir Gawain…!"

"All the way to Serenes forest?" he asked, "Do you know where that is?"

"Yes, in Begnion but-"

"And how much chance do you think two women like yourselves have of even getting out of the boarder to even start making your way to Begnion?"

"We have to try! Please don't stop us!"

"I have no intention of stopping you," he said

There was a moment of silence, "sir Gawain?" said Elena, beyond any other words.

"I'm going with you," he said

"…Do you believe us?" she asked, barely able to manage those words.

"No, I think your story is mad and beyond reason" said Gawain as he walked toward her.

"Then why-"

"Because I love you."

Her eyes widened as he drew her in and kissed her.

"Sir…Gawain…"

"Sorry to cut this moment short you two" came a voice.

Gawain turned and faced sir Taruoneo leaning against an apple tree, a lance at his side.

"So you did follow me?" said Gawain, "I never could hide anything from you."

Taruoneo nodded and stood, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you'll be going nowhere."

"Sir Taruoneo…"

"I'm sorry, Elena but I'm afraid I can't stand by and watch two traitors and a prisoner escape my homeland without opposition."

"But-"

"I know about the medallion, I heard everything," he said

"And you're still going to fight us?" she asked

He nodded, "My loyalty is to the nation of Daein, not it's nobles. As long as it stays fair and true to it's people I will always oppose its enemies."

"Are you sure there is nothing we can do to change your mind?" asked Gawain

"I'm afraid not"

"I see, well then…" he said as he unsheathed his Regal Sword, "prepare yourself, my old friend."

Taruoneo took his lance, "It's has been an honor serving under you, Gawain."

They waited for a few moments before they charged at each other.

* * *

Melanie ran and ran until she finally came to the rendezvous point her sister told her about. She was almost over her sobbing; it pained her to hit the boy like that. But it had to be done; he could not be allowed to come with them. It was far too dangerous.

She looked around; the lake in the middle of the setting told her it was the right place. But her sister had not yet arrived, immediately she began to worry about her. Tears threatened to break loose again and she fought them back, but her mind would not let it go. What if she was caught? What did they do to her? What could they do to her? She tried not to think of the possibilities.

"I'm sorry…" she said to the night sky, "I never meant for any of this to happen"

"Then why did it?" said a voice.

She turned and out of the forest, his head slightly bleeding, was the boy.

"I'm sorry," she said again, "but it had to be done."

"Could you tell me why?"

She stayed silent for a moment

"Tell me!"

"I…I have to go with my sister"

"Why all this trouble over a sub-human!"

"Don't you dare call Lillia that!"

The boy stopped and paused for a moment, then asked: "Okay, but why go through all this trouble?"

"It's lord Ashnard," said Melanie, "He…he needs Lehran's Medallion…"

"…Why?"

"I'm not sure, to embroil the world in war or something…I don't know"

"…Who told you this?"

"Lillia, the heron…"

"Can't she just be lying?"

"What if she isn't? She's asking us for help, and anyway she doesn't seem the type to lie…"

" 'Seems' isn't enough to trust someone"

"I need to go with my sister, that's all the reason I need…" she said defiantly and turned away from him, "Please let me go, I-my sister is the only family I have left in the world…"

The boy stepped closer and she turned, he came closer and closer. She could not run, she was frozen in place but she was not afraid.

The boy stopped right in front of her, "I'm going with you."

Melanie stood shocked, "You can't come! It's way to dangerous!"

"I don't care," he said as he gestured toward his sword, "what do you think this is for?"

"You're insane! Don't throw your life away! What happened to being the greatest knight in all of Daein? How are you supposed to be a knight if you're a fugitive!"

The boy looked to the stars, "I…guess I'll have to put that on hold for a moment…"

"You stupid fool!"

She ran at him and embraced him, no longer able to hold back the sobs.

The boy stood shocked, but retuned the embrace. They stood there, the sounds of the night fill the air. Crickets chirping, frogs croaking, the night birds singing…

…The sound of lighting crackling…

The boy push her away just in time to dodge the Elthunder attack.

"Drat! And I was so close" came Pathos's voice.

"You!"

"That's right, me!" said Pathos, laughing menacingly "Because of your blunder with the prisoner I'm sure to get demoted, but maybe I can save myself by bringing lord Ashnard the head of the girl that freed her!"

He charged up another Elthunder and pointed to Melanie, "Prepare to die!"

A bolt of lighting shot from his hand, the boy ran in front of it and was hit.

"No!" cried Melanie

"Humph, so you plan to get in the way, eh?" said Pathos with a sadistic grin, "Fine, I never liked you anyway. I'll get rid of you both and bring lord Ashnard the heads of two traitors!"

Another bolt of lighting shot from Pathos's hand, the boy had gotten up just enough to dodge it. He rushed at him only to be blown back by another lighting bolt, this time farther than before.

Pathos laughed crazily, "Foolish boy! You cannot hope to defeat the great Pathos! When this is over I'm sure to get another promotion, perhaps to the rank of Four Rider! Hahahahahahahaha!"

The boy could not get back up; he no longer had the strength.

"What this?" mocked Pathos, "That's it? No more fight left in you? And I though there was a reason Gawain spoke highly of you. I guess it was just small talk!" Another ball of lightning appeared in his hand, "Time to die!"

A sharp pain erupted from the back of his head, he screamed as blood and water splashed his cloak.

"Take that you sadistic bastard!" called Melanie

His eyes blazing with anger, Pathos redirected the Elthunder spell at Melanie. The force of it slammed her into a tree.

"Melanie!"

Pathos laughed again, "Don't worry you'll be joining your friend soon!"

The boy got up and charged at him, Pathos fired another lightning bolt. The boy blocked it with his sword and both steel and magic were locked in a stalemate. The boy turned his sword to its broad side and the bolt of lightning was reflected back at Pathos. He suffered a slow, extremely painful death of electric shock.

The boy knelt for a moment to recover his strength, and then ran towards Melanie.

"Melanie! Melanie! Speak to me!" he yelled as he held her up.

Melanie coughed after a few moments and opened her eyes. "How did you win?" she asked

The boy smiled, "I reflected his attack with the broad side of my sword, good thing you doused him with water right before."

"Yeah, we make a pretty good team…" she fell unconscious again.

The boy leaned her against the tree and involuntarily fell against it as well from exhaustion.

* * *

Gawain parried Taruoneo's thrust and tried to counter, which his opponent blocked. They pulled out of the stalemate; Taruoneo threw his spear at Gawain. Gawain blocked and charged, seizing the opportunity. Taruoneo took hold of the long tassel attached to the spear and pulled it back to his hand just in time to block Gawain. He countered with another thrust that embedded the spearhead into a tree. Gawain attacked with a downward slash and Taruoneo pulled away at the last possible second.

Gawain feinted Taruoneo's attack and caught the spear in mid-thrust. Taruoneo stumbled with the force of his own blow and Gawain pulled him forward and landed his sword hilt to the back of Taruoneo's head.

Taruoneo fell to the floor, unconscious.

Gawain sighed and looked down on his friend, "Goodbye, old friend"

He turned to Elena and Lillia, "We'd better go before he wakes up"

"We have to meet my sister first," said Elena, "I hope she's okay…"

"Well, let's go!" they all ran, Elena leading the way. Gawain suddenly realized that this would change everything, but looking at Elena ahead of him, he knew that they would change for the better.

He took one last look at Palmeni temple, and said a mental goodbye to his country and his men…


	15. Chapter 15: Revival of the oracle

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 15: Revival of the oracle

_The time is coming…_said the voice of the stone

Nathan awoke to find himself in a deserted, desert like wasteland. He looked around for some sort of opening in the sky, or a chariot of angels to come down and carry him into the afterlife. He waited for a long time; surly this could not be the afterlife? The utopia that those who had lost their lives in a blaze of honor were taken to? It could not be, could it?

Then he remembered he did not lose his life in a battle, and hardly with any honor. He was killed from behind, but who was it that killed him? And most importantly, why?

His eyes widened as a thought came to him, a brief remembrance of his life. It was the Black Knight, he was sure of it. He knew about the oracle stone. Nathan cursed, he should have been more careful with it. Of course, he never knew that such a thing could get him killed.

He looked to the blazing hot sky, for some reason, he did not feel hot at all. 'I really must be dead then' he thought. He looked down and involuntarily began to muse his life over. His thoughts drifted first to his parents, what would they think? What lies would his former master tell them? Would they grieve? What would his brothers and sisters do?

Suddenly he wished they were here with him, it would be better that being alone in this desert. He wished he could se them at least one more time.

He began to walk, he did not know where. Nothing was left now but to wander this vast ocean of sand. The wind blew and sanded his face; he shielded his eyes. Sagebrushes rolled past him, skeletons were littered about every which way. Shadows circled the sun; Nathan shielded his eyes and looked up to see birds circling him. A typical desert, strange though, could they see him? A wandering spirit? Or was his mind playing tricks on him? More intriguing, was this world playing tricks on him?

"What kind of afterlife is this anyway?" he said aloud.

He walks on and on for what seemed like days, though of course he never felt any sort of fatigue. The scenery never changed, the birds still circled above him, the sun still shone, nothing changed. And in fact, it seemed he was the only one here, were there not other spirits? Now that he thought about it, he seemed to be confined in one spot of the desert even though he could see more.

Like now, he saw a mesa to his right. But as he tried to walk towards it he never came close. It was as if he was isolated from the rest of the desert, but what was the meaning of that?

He decided to stop, even though he was not tired, and sit on the sand. Another thought came to him, could this be some sort of punishment Ashera thought up in her twisted little head. If so, what was it for? What could he have possibly done to deserve a penalty so cruel?

The roar of a mighty beast rang across the lifeless plain.

Nathan turned behind him, a figure running in the distance. It was not a man as it was running on all fours; it was some sort of animal.

A lion…

Nathan ran, ran not because of fear of death, but fear of the lion itself. He did not know where to go, all around him nothing changed. It was like being trapped in one of those old cartoons where the scenery just keeps repeating as the characters are running and the little kids don't notice. He heard the sound of a roar behind him; it was getting closer…

He tried to run faster but his legs could only go so far. He had a thought; why not just fly away? He was a ghost after all. He jumped up and down as he ran, flapping his wings like a bird that was not meant to fly.

He turned again, there were more now, and closer…

All hope was lost; the lions would catch up to him and proceed to tear his very soul apart for all of eternity.

_A council of war…_

Nathan fell down a few inches and landed on his posterior. He looked up and saw a small cliff hanging above him, elevated only a few feet from the real ground.

The ground began to shake and jumping up into the air was the most powerful lion Nathan had ever seen, not that he had seen a lion before anyway. It had a red mane of hair and what seemed to be a golden claw. Not far behind him were the other lions, no, not lions, tigers…

They ran as quickly as they appeared farther into the desert, disappearing from sight.

The wind picked up and, in a gust of desert air, Nathan was sent hurtling into the blue sky. He fell for what seemed like hours until he saw an old ruin before him. He fell straight in, as time had made sure to remove the roof.

He stood and patted the sand off his clothes. As he looked down he noticed he was in the shadow of a very tall figure. Nathan turned and saw a powerful looking individual, a baldhead and crimson eyes. Next to him was a boy half Nathan's height with long hair and the same crimson eyes. Both had a jewel like something embedded in their forehead.

"Uh…hello there" he said awkwardly, "I know this is a bit strange, me falling from the sky and everything…"

They did not respond; that was odd. Suddenly he came to the realization that they hadn't noticed him in the least.

A roar came from behind. Nathan turned and coming into the ruin was the lion. No, not a lion as it began to glow and stand on its hind legs. The paws of a beast transformed into the sandaled feet of a man, the mane its hair. Soon a man stood before him, looking as powerful as the lion.

"Welcome, King Caineghis" said the other man as they saluted each other; at least that's what it looked like.

"It is good to see you are still well, black dragon king" said the man named Caineghis

Nathan suddenly remembered where he heard that name, in the war chamber. It wasthe name of the king of Gallia! He was in a meeting between his enemy, or former enemy, and this 'black dragon king' or something like that. Another thing suddenly came to his attention, no, it was a certainty. This was another vision from the stone, but that would have to mean…

A screech filled the air; Nathan looked up and saw birds circling the sky. But they were not the carrion birds from before; they descended down into the ruin. He notice one stood out from the other two, in the fact that it was snow white.

As they touched upon the ground they transformed into men with wings, again Nathan was surprised at how they could control their transformations so well. One of them was burly, tall, and muscular. The other was dressed completely in black, not the best color choice for a desert, and had blue hair and crafty red eyes. The last one looked more like a woman at first glance, he had long blonde hair and was dressed the complete opposite of the last one.

Nathan looked around; these half-breeds surrounded him. It was not just the ones he had seen, there were others as well. His eyes wandered to the one in white, and he was surprised to see him staring back. Nathan looked behind him to see if there was anything there, no, the birdman was definatly staring at him. 'But how can he see me?' Nathan thought

"Reyson, is something the matter?" asked the muscular guy.

Reyson turned and said something inaudible, chanting filled his ears and the scene melted and contorted until Nathan stood in the square of a burning city. He looked around from left to right, trying to find some hint or indication of why…

_The time to strike is approaching, use fire from the earth…_

His eyes landed on a moving object, running toward him. It was a burning woman, completely on fire. Nathan froze; the woman fell to his feet right before him. He could smell the freshly burnt flesh of the corpse; he covered his nose. A sound came from behind him and another person on fire ran through a building screaming, he ran until the fire had engulfed him and he lay as dead as the woman.

He looked around and they were all over the place, surrounding him.All were charred beyond recognition, but most were the corpses of women and children. He began to back away slowly when he tripped on one of them; it was a young child not looking older than his youngest sister.

He got up quickly and ran, but they were everywhere. Some were killed by the fire; others bled and had weapons in them. Still others were mutilated completely. There was nowhere to escape this burning hell.

_Behold, the consequences of war_… 

Nathan turned and saw a ghost like figure with robes trailing him like a black mist.

"Who are you?" Nathan asked

_I am a messenger…_ the thing said as it came closer to him. 

Nathan was frozen in place; he could barely breath. It was as if this thing was sucking the very air out of everything with his presence. Flames that he passed went out instantly, his robes showed no sign of his feet so it looked like he was floating.

It stood before Nathan now, a dark black figure. It snatched his left hand in a gauntlet of steel, pain shot though. Not just the hand, his entire body felt as if he were being stabbed with a thousand red hot blades. He cried out in pain, his vision blurred, and soon all he could see was darkness.

* * *

He awoke to find himself in the courtyard, in the exact same spot he was killed. He sat up and rubbed his head and his stiff neck with his left hand. It felt different; it felt a sort of tingly sensation. Nathan looked at his hand.

The oracle stone was there, embedded in his hand, never to come off.

Ever…

He lay on his back and looked to the night sky, use fire from the earth…

His eyes suddenly widened, he rubbed them with his arm. There was the constellation of Gregov, the great swordsman and one of Ashera's champions. But he was pointing, that was never there before. Pointing at what?

Nathan got up and, using Gregov to guide him, ran to find the 'fire from the earth'…


	16. Chapter 16: War council

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 16: Raining fire

The Black Knight bore his gaze down on his soliders as they worked to mine the ancient stones the boy said would lead them to victory. This 'fire from the earth' as Nathan had called it at the meeting. Of course Petrine and the others just laughed at first, they had not experienced the power of the oracle stone first hand. But he had, it had tortured him in ways not even the cruelest king possibly could.

He scanned the room with his eyes; yes there he was, working for his master like a good servant boy. Working with the rest of his underlings like the little urchin he was. Yet he, this meaningless peasant, had a power that could bend time and space and make a mockery of every law of logic there was made on this continent. It defied the gods and goddesses and made whoever possessed it master of his own destiny.

If one knew how to use it…

Nathan turned and looked straight at him. At first his stare held surprise and fear, but it soon turned to one of anger and defiance. The kind of stare that said 'I am ready for you, and I am not afraid' and the ebon knight had to chuckle a bit at that. It was the first time in forever that someone looked at him that way, the first time someone looked at him and was not afraid. It was simply a crime to give that kind of power to a weak, meaningless peasant boy.

The Black Knight took one last look at Nathan, gave a metallic scoff, and turned away.

* * *

Reyson stared down at the endless sea of sand, as they flew in the scorching heat of the desert. He didn't need to tell from the sun that he and his fellow laguz bird monarchs, Tibarn and Naesala, that they were late for the meeting. Naesala, of course, could care less about the whole thing, and occasionally asked the growingly irritating question: "are we there yet?" 

"Naesala for the last time, shut your beak!" said Tibarn on one occasion, finally unable to stand it.

"We will be there in a moment, milord," said Naesala's attendant, Nealuchi

The raven prince sighed, "I don't see why I have to come all the way out here just for this stupid war meeting. We crows have always done things ourselves, without any help from the other tribes."

"You are attending this meeting because you are a laguz king, Naesala" said the hawk king, "Not because it is to your fancy, start taking the responsibility that comes with that title."

"King Tibarn is right, young nestling," said Nealuchi, "it is your duty."

Naesala gave an impatient scoff and mumbled something to himself, but said nothing more. Reyson looked down on the lifeless surface of the desert. He didn't want to agree with Naesala, but this heat was quite unbearable and his wings had begun to ache from flying for so long.

"Reyson, are you alright?" asked Tibarn

"Yes I'm fine" he responded.

"You're starting to lag behind," said Tibarn, "do you want to stop and take a rest?"

"No no, I'll be fine."

"What's the matter Reyson?" asked Naesala, "Are those delicate wings ill-suited for traveling? You must be spending too much time indoors."

Reyson grunted and flapped his ivory white wings harder so that he was at his former best friend's side.

"Do not aggravate me Naesala," said Reyson, "I'm in no mood for your antics."

Naesala just chuckled quietly to himself and continued to fly. Reyson never could figure out why the king of the crows always did his best to irritate him, then again he had done so since they were little and were still friends. It must be all the dealings with humans that made him this way.

They finally came to the ruin castle that was to be their meeting place; they circled above for a while before they landed, changing into their beroc forms in the process. Reyson was dressed in the traditional heron's garb, Tibarn dressed in an open shirt that showed off his muscles, and Naesala dressed all black as usual.

They were greeted by King Caineghis, the king of lions, and the black dragon king, the true name of the black dragon king escaped Reyson.

"Well now that everyone has arrived," said the king of lions, "we can begin the meeting, I would first like to thank the dragon king and his son for picking such a secretive meeting point."

He nodded to the dragon king and the dragon prince beside him, "now on to business. The entire reason I called this council of war is to discuss the country of Daein's movements."

"Daein has already invaded the nation of Crimea," said the black dragon king, "a beroc nation. We are not sure why, but it seems they plan to start a war. And so what I think the lion king is asking is if we should get involved."

There was a bit of awkward silence before Tibarn spoke, "if the humans want to war with themselves and destroy each other then I say let them. For all the grieve and misery they have caused us over the years, they deserve it."

"But Crimea was our ally!" said king Caineghis, "they did not share the racial beliefs of other beroc nations. They wanted peace."

"I'm sure their king did not share the opinions of others when it came to laguz" rebutted Tibarn, "But what about the people of Crimea? Were they educated to treat laguz fairly? Would they welcome you with open arms king Caineghis? I think not."

"Such bitter words hawk king," said Naesala in a shifty, mocking voice.

Tibarn turned on him, "of course you would know all about human activity, wouldn't you Naesala? You commit the shameful act of dealing with them on a daily basis."

"I only do what I can for Kilvas," said the king of ravens, "Unlike hawks, we don't have the luxury of choosing our targets when we pirate."

"We are pirates, I'll admit that," said Tibarn, " but we only attack Begnion ships. And we are merciful, unlike you crows, and we honor the boarder pact."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Naesala

"I've heard sighting of crows in my territory"

"Hah! Ridiculous! I've never sent any of my crows into Phoenicis territory"

"My son begs to differ, crow king," said the dragon king.

"What do you mean?" asked Naesala

"My son had made contact with humans that had boarded a Begnion vessel. The humans had claimed they were just attack by a band of your crows."

The smile on Naesala's face disappeared.

"Ah ha!" said Tibarn, "caught red handed! Trying to steal some of my loot are you?"

Reyson sighed, Naesala, he thought, when will you ever learn you can't get away with it? He would have a serious talk with him when he visited Kilvas, for now however he would retain his silence until directly spoken to.

Suddenly there was a presence in the council, one not of this world. The prince of herons looked to his left, and there, almost invisible, was a boy. Not a laguz boy, he cold sense that, but some sort of sprit or apparition. But why was it here?

Suddenly it made a startling and somewhat disturbing motion, it turned and looked at him. They stared at each other for a while, both Reyson and the spirit unable to break the trance.

"Reyson, are you all right?" came Tibarn's voice.

Reyson broke long enough from the trance to look and respond to Tibarn, "I'm fine, just a little tired." He turned to the sprit, but it was gone.

"Well, now that prince Reyson has rejoined us," said the lion king, "I feel as though we have gotten severely off topic. We shall have a show of hands, who thinks we should join the war if need arises?"

None lifted their hands.

"I see," said the lion king

"Well if Daein decides to invade my territory, then of course we will fight back," said the dragon king, "But we'll never strike first."

"Agreed," said Tibarn, "then I guess this meeting is adjourned."

A cackling laughter came from above, "Not so fast! Not so fast!" came a voice.

They all turned and saw a centuries old lady dressed in black shawls and flew on black wings appeared before them.

"Oh not her!" Naesala said to himself as he put his hand to his head.

"Excuse me miss, but this is a private meeting," said Tibarn.

"Oh yes yes, milord" she said as she bowed, "I am fully aware."

"Her name is Madam Mae," said Naesala, "she's one of my…informants."

"She's a spy?" asked the black dragon king

"No she's-"

"Wait milord, let me do it!" asked Madam Mae, cutting him off

"-An oracle"

Madam Mae pouted at him, "You never let me do it!"

"An oracle, but I thought only herons could see into the future," said Tibarn, giving a sideways glance at Reyson who caught it and gave a confused shrug.

"Yes well the world is full of mysteries, isn't it milord?" she said to Tibarn, while glancing up and down his torso.

"What do you want Mae?" asked Naesala.

Mae turned to him, "shame on you milord! Where's your respect for your elders?"

"She's right Naesala," said Reyson, "you must always respect your elders"

"Now the heron prince know what he's talking about," said Madam Mae, "You could learn a thing or two from him"

Naesala scoffed, "whatever, now why are you here?"

"Oh, yes, yes pay close attention all, especially you king Caineghis, for what I am about to say will not be easy to hear."

"At this very moment, Gallia is under siege"

"What!" said the lion king, "That's impossible! By who!"

"Who else" replied Madam Mae, "Daein"

"Caineghis go," said the dragon king, "It is obvious that your people need you now"

"B-but can't she be lying?" asked Reyson.

"No, Mae's information is always correct," said Naesala, "It's the only reason I keep her around."

"Your people will need more that just their king," she said to Caineghis, "they will need reinforcements."

* * *

It was a beautiful night to be walking the courtyard of Gallia, even though the stars and the entire night sky were blocked from sight by clouds. Ranulf strolled down the courtyard with no place to go and nothing to do, he hated nights like this. It was so boring to him; forget stopping and sniffing the roses or just sitting there and relaxing, he needed something to do.

He sighed, for all it's splendor Gallia could be a pretty boring place. Sometimes he wished an invasion force would just swoop down and ask for trouble, only sometimes…

His mind wandered to Ike and the Greil mercenaries. He wondered how they were doing, no doubt getting into all sorts of trouble. He chuckled a bit as he remembered that time when Ike saved him from that angry mob back at Toha, that Ike sure is one heck of a character.

Then he thought of the beroc warrior he fought, the one encased completely in black armor. He was so powerful, more powerful than anyone he had ever fought beroc or laguz. The way he moved, the way he swung his sword; it was as if he felt no weight from the armor at all. If that monk hadn't shown up he wouldn't be breathing right now, it gave him shivers just thinking about it.

He looked around and came to he realization that everyone was looking up, but at what? He looked to the sky and saw some huge black birds, the biggest he had ever seen. Other people stared up in amazement.

Then he realized something else; if he looked closely he could see some sort of shape on the birds. At first it seemed like just a crest, but as he looked closer…

He gasped in horror; those were no birds.

"Wyverns…" he whispered.

"Get out of the street!" he began yelling to the crowd, "Get out of sight! RUN!"

But it was far to late; he looked up again and saw sparkling, bright orange specks raining from the sky. One of them struck a man in the shoulder.

He burst into flame.

They all ran, and Ranulf ran with them. All around him the scene was burning, burning houses, burning stands, burning people. It was literally raining fire, everything the stones touched burst into flame.

He took shelter a wood roof and watched the horrific scene play itself out to an end. People were either burned to death or trampled; none were spared. One woman fell at his knees and screaming as she was burned to death by this unknown weapon.

Suddenly it all stopped, Ranulf came out of his hiding place. He saw charred bodies everywhere; people huddled up and weeping, many questions fill the air.

Then an explosion followed by the worst news of all: "They've breeched the wall" cried a solider.

As panic began to ensue Ranulf jumped up on the roof he had been hiding under and cried out to the people to calm down.

As soon as he had absolute silence he said, "I need all available laguz, who are not injured, to help me defend the capital! To defend Gallia! These humans think they can just walk all over us! We'll prove them wrong! We are laguz!"

He was greeted by cheers and roars as they shifted forms into fierce tigers and cats. Ranulf changed into his beast form and lead the charge.

Here he was, leading a group of beasts into battle after a sudden onslaught of death and destruction. Odds are, of course, against him.

He was suddenly starting to miss the clam, quiet night.


	17. Chapter 17: Siege of Gallia

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 17: Siege of Gallia

Giffca stared down from the balcony in the royal throne room, gazing upon a burning city. A city that _he _had been entrusted with, but he let his guard slip and now the enemy was beyond their doorstep and inside their home.

How could I let this happen? He thought.

A Gallian solider burst into the room, panting from his long run to the palace.

"Sir the city is under attack!" he yelled with what breath he had.

Fool! Don't you think I know that? He wanted to say. But he said nothing, it was at times like this a leader had to show strength and stability, not panic and weakness, to both his allies and enemies. Instead he turned to the messenger, hands clasped behind his back, and gave out the orders.

"Get the old, the children, and those who are no longer able to fight out of the city." He said with a commanding presence, "Tell the soliders to buy time, then ask them to retreat as well. Use the ancient tunnels."

"B-but sir! Are you saying we should abandon Gallia!"

"It might come to that, yes" he came closer and put a friendly hand on the young soldier's shoulder and gave a warm smile, "But if it does, at least they will not have beaten us. We will come again to fight back and take the capital with hawks and dragons at our side. But for now, go"

"Yes sir!" said the solider as he gave the Gallian salute. His shape deteriorated and he was replaced with a ferocious green tiger, Giffca watched as it leapt off out of the chamber and into the dark of the hallways.

He turned back to the blazing city. He should be down there, fighting with his men till they were victorious or until his last breath escaped him. But that was not his duty; his duty was to the throne. For if the enemy were to seize it, all would be lost. Besides, he thought to himself, they had Ranulf down there…

He sighed and looked to the stone railing where he had placed his hand, unable to look at his dying home any longer.

"How could I have let this happen?" he asked himself out loud.

* * *

The cat-beast that was Ranulf stood firm as he stared down the three Daein invaders, each with a look of intent and malice in their eyes. He knew that with odds like this in a fight, the best thing to do was wait for the enemy to strike first. Chances were the dude in the middle would start it off with a thrust of his lance, followed by the one on the left and the right attacking at the same time. Ranulf smirked inside; this wouldn't be too bad… 

The solider in the middle rushed at him, 'so predictable' thought Ranulf. He dodged with the gracefulness and agility his cat-beast form would allow and clawed the soldier's face. The one on the left attacked next, the other didn't seem to move, and Ranulf let over his shoulder as he slashed his throat with lightning-fast speed. He landed on the ground quickly adjusted his footing so that he could instantly spring at the last one from behind. It was over in a matter of seconds.

The cat-beast disappeared in a crimson flash of light as he reverted back to his beroc form to conserve energy. After all, it looked as if this battle would last the night. He wiped the sweat of his brow and looked at the corpses of the defeated Daein soliders, serves them right for trying to take our homeland, he thought. Though it eluded him as to why they would want to strike Gallia in the first place, what could that mad king Ashnard be thinking?

He heard a roar of agony from the east; he turned his head and ran in the direction of the noise. He needed to conserve energy so he didn't revert back to his laguz form, but running on beroc legs could be so annoying. They were so slow; after all four legs were better that two.

He arrived just in time to see a black rider on a black steed strike down a fellow Gallian, she recognized him almost immediately.

"Ah, I see we meet again," said the black rider.

"You, you're the one we met at that abandoned castle…" said Ranulf, with a wry smirk crossing his face, "How ya doing?"

"Very well, thank you" replied the black rider, "It has been quite a pleasure, taking your city under siege, slaughtering your fellow half-breeds, which proved to be quite entertaining…" He reared her horse as she came closer, "By the way, I don't think I've had the pleasure, my name is Petrine. And I am one of the four riders of Daein!"

"My name's Ranulf" he replied, then decided to add: "So tell me, what are you doing here? Why has you king ordered you to try and take Gallia?"

Petrine chuckled, "I haven't the faintest idea, I wouldn't waste my time with this pathetic half-breed city if I were queen, but who am I to judge the actions of the king?"

"Alright, but at least tell me this: you said there are four riders of Daein, you being one, is there one clad completely in black armor and fights like a god among you?"

Petrine's smile quickly turned into a frown, "Yes, there is one among us who fits that description, the Black Knight…but enough idle chit-chat!" she said as she brought her weapon, an arcane lance of deadly fire magic, to bear, "Ranulf of the half-breeds, you die here!"

"You first lady!" said Ranulf as he flashed into his laguz form. They charged at each other…

* * *

The Black Knight cleaved though the soliders guarding the throne chamber with relative ease, chuckling at how pathetic and futile their resistance was. He stood at the two enormous doors for a moment, thinking about how close he was to ending this, before he blew them down with a single strike of his sword. He strolled into the chamber… 

"So, you've finally come…" came a voice. An ominous figure sat at the throne, he stood up.

"And who are you?" asked the Black Knight.

"I am Giffca, the rightful king's shadow," said the man, "I am to guard the throne, and the city, in his stead."

"Is that so?" asked the Black Knight, "and has your king abandoned you so readily? How disgraceful, but fitting, I guess, the king reflects the power of his nation after all."

Giffca let out a frightening roar, even in his beroc form, and called to the knight: "Do not mock the honor of our king! It is your king who is disgraceful, attacking us at night, like skulking vipers, instead of challenging us out in the open like an honorable king!"

"It is called 'strategy,'" replied the knight, "Not that you inferior beings would no anything of it."

"ENOUGH" cried the shadow warrior, "I will not let you stand and insult my people in my presence! For the honor of my king, and for all of Gallia, I will never let a beroc take a seat on this throne!"

With that the man flash into crimson light and became a blue-furred lion, it jumped at the Black Knight with claws flipped out ready to thrash and rent his flesh.

The Black Knight brought his sword to bear and parried the blow as Giffca leapt past him, the lion turned and leapt at the knight again. The Black Knight parried and, as Giffca was turning for another strike the Black Knight charged at him. He aimed a downward swing at the beast, and just missed it by a hair as it leapt to the side and countered with a swing of its mighty claws.

The Black Knight dodged to the side, the claws only grazing his wrist and drawing blood. He looked to the wound with amazement, thought it was just a cut; it was incredible that the lion was strong enough to pierce his armor. This angered him, but at the same time he felt a strange exhilaration and excitement in him.

For him, it just made the battle more real…

The Black Knight turned and, though he was nowhere near his opponent, swung his sword down. A shockwave erupted out of the blade and struck with lightning force, Giffca barely dodged out of the way in time. The Black Knight shot another at the lion, this one finding its mark.

Giffca wavered as he got up, shaken by the force of the blow. The Black Knight took this opportunity and shot another. But the shadow lion learns fast, instead of dodging to the left or right he gave a mighty leap up into the air. The Black Knight looked up just in time to see the lion dive onto him, knocking him to the ground.

The blade of Alondite was clenched in the beast's jaws, a blow that was aimed for his throat. He pushed the beast back and it came to the ground with a balance of power and finesse, it leapt at him, pressing its attack. The Black Knight dodged and fired another shock wave at it as it flew past, Giffca rebounded off a wall and came back just before the shockwave hit. The Black Knight blocked with Alondite but the force of the blow made him stagger.

Undaunted, the Black Knight decided to end the fight with a final blow; he lifted the sword above his head with the blade pointed to the enemy. Giffca let out a final mighty roar as the Black Knight armor began to glow a bluish hue. Giffca leapt at the glowing knight, intending to use all of his strength into this last blow. The Black Knight waited for the last possible second to make his strike...

A clash of steel and claw resounded in the air…

When it was over Giffca lay on the ground, an enormous gash across his side. The Black Knight was on one knee with his sword down to support him; he clutched his side.

Giffca rose to his feet, his wound oozing blood, and reverted back to his beroc form. Outside both opponents could hear cheers as the Gallian's reinforcements had finally arrived.

* * *

Ranulf leapt to the side as Petrine struck yet again with her flame lance. His fur had been scorched and he had a nasty burn on his left side. He was burning up energy fast, at this rate he would have to change back into his other form. 

He leapt back as Petrine struck again, Ranulf attempted to counter with a leaping slash aimed at her throat. He came so close before she reared her horse up to block it, he fell to the ground and rolled to the side to avoid being stomped on by the horse.

'Stupid horses' he thought, he wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Any second now he would revert back to his beroc form automatically and when that happened…

Petrine charged at him, her face filled with intent to take him down. This would be his final stand.

A loud screech filled the air as a hawk of enormous size swept down and missed Petrine by a hair, instantly halting her advance.

The hawk swooped down and transformed into a man with a muscular build. Ranulf recognized him immediately.

"Lord Tibarn, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Tibarn looked behind him and smirked, "It's good to see you're well, Ranulf"

"Of course I'm well! Did you expect otherwise?"

Tibarn chuckled at the cat-beast's reply before he turned to Petrine.

"I have but one question," he told the black rider, "What do you want with Gallia?"

Petrine tried her best to mask her anger, failing miserably, "I was acting on my king's orders, just as I had told your half-beast friend there."

A stern and frightening look came about Tibarn's face, "I see, you humans are all the same. Leave this city, and it's people in peace, run with your tail between your legs while you have the chance or I swear I will cut you down where you stand!"

As he said this two more hawks appeared at his side, Petrine had no choice but to retreat. She turned and began to ride off, but called back to the hawk king: "Do not think this is over in the slightest! We will return and finish what we have begun!"

"Good!" Ranulf called back, already in his beroc form, "Bring as many soliders as you can! You will never defeat Gallia! Or any of the great laguz nations!"

Petrine said nothing and rode off, Ranulf waited until she was out of sight before he collapsed to the ground.

* * *

The mighty king Caineghis returned to his castle with a vengeance, driving away the shadow of peril that had loomed over his city with the help of Tibarn the hawk king. Now he rushed to his throne room to take back what was his. 

He came into the chamber to see Giffca lying on the floor heavily bleeding; he went to his friends' side.

"Giffca!" he called to him, and Giffca replied.

"My king…you have returned…"

"Who did this?" asked the lion king; shocked that anyone could defeat his loyal shadow.

His followers came onto the scene and he ordered them to take Giffca to the infirmary. Outside he could hear cries of joy and anguish.

They had won the battle, but the war was just beginning.


	18. Chapter 18: Razia

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 18: Razia

Nathan bolted upright from his sleeping position, fiercely sweating and cold. He looked to his hand; which was glowing so bright Nathan had to hide it under the covers for fear of waking up the others sleeping around him. It shone through the fabric; his eyes darted around the small, tightly knit group of sleeping soliders. All he could hear were shallow breaths and snores.

He gave a sigh of relief, the stone's glow began to fade but Nathan removed it from under the quilts only when the light had fully diminished. The stone's color had turned a dull deep blue. He stared at it for a moment before he realized that his vision was all but forgotten. It was very much unlike the other nights, where as soon as he woke he would instantly recall it regardless of whether he wanted to or not. But this one, it was on the fringe of his memory. He strained to bring it back, small details, little tid-bits and scraps, came forward. A little girl, short with deep purple hair…a vast hall, or was it a cave? A room perhaps? There were stone carvings…murals, depicting…depicting what? What? The question burned in his mind's eye, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. What did any of it mean?

He sighed and fell back on his sleeping bag, the back of his head hitting the pillow. He stared at the billowing 'ceiling' of the tent, listening to the wheezes, snores, and the occasional mumbling and flatulence one made when they were quietly asleep. Absolutely nothing came to mind; it was as if the vision had faded into nothing along with the glow of the stone. He lifted his left hand a few inches from his face; the stone was embedded on the back of his hand. It made it look so alien, as if it were no longer a part of him, but a being all it's own. He turned it over to the palm side and back, he flexed his fingers, yes he was still in control.

A noise gave him a start; he turned and saw a man turn over in his sleep. He mumbled something about eggs. Nathan sat up again and looked at the neatly folded clothes to his right side. Then he got up and quietly changed out of his nightshirt and into a brown tunic and a pair of brown trousers and brown shoes. He took his cloak and tiptoed over the sleeping soliders and stole out of the tent. Here and there were soliders also sound asleep, most without bags, as they had drunk themselves into submission with ale. The previous nights loss had demoralized all but the most optimistic of them, and the immediate departure from the Gallian castle they lodged in prior to the siege only made it worse. The leaders in charge of this mission had said that Gallia would act immediately to avenge the disgrace of their city, but so far there had been no sign that they were being pursued. Of course who really knew? They were still in Gallian territory after all.

He wandered away from the camp and into the woods, though it was very unadvisable, since there was always the threat of surprise attack from in them. But for some reason, he didn't feel afraid at all. In fact, as he went deeper and deeper in, he felt at peace in the stillness. He slowed his pace; he tried recalling the vision now but to no avail. Still it eluded him! He thought the fresh, night air would do his mind some good, it was the ideal conditions to ponder on lost, forgotten thoughts. He looked at the stone again, 'why doesn't this stupid thing work?' he thought furiously.

He stopped his pacing and leaned his back on a tree; he tried to calm himself down. He forced himself to think about other things and put the vision aside for the moment. He slumped against the tree till he sat on the ground, his thoughts drifted to Jill. He had heard about her sudden departure from Haar's group in a tiny segment of gossip among the soliders during dinner, he was trying to study the complex Elfire spell at the time. It seems, in her haste to make her father proud and win glory to her namesake, she headed after a band of trouble-making mercenaries who were alleged to be escorting princess Crimea to Begnion. He remembered wanting to go up to those soliders and ask for specifics, when was she last seen, how did she depart, etc. But he knew these questions to these informants would be a waste of time, as just by looking at them you could tell it was passed on to them like it was passed onto everyone else they heard it from. So Nathan did not bother.

'Typical Jill' he thought, being the insomniac she was, Jill probably stole away in the night. She must've flown all day with out rest to catch up to the boat the mercenaries had taken. What might've happened after that, Nathan could not deduce. There was a high possibility the enemy spotted her and shot her down on sight, but he sorely hoped that was not the case. When they first visited Talrega, Jill befriended him almost instantly with her fiery spirit and determination, to do what exactly escaped him at the time. It was as if she was the sister he never had, and it pained him to have to leave her. Now there she went again, trying to get herself killed. It wasn't the first time, however he hoped to the goddess sometimes that she would develop some sort of brain.

He sighed, and prayed to the goddess and all her deities that she hadn't gotten herself killed.

He got up and began to walk in the direction of the camp, he was about one-third of the was there when an old, cackling laugh stopped him dead in his tracks. His head spun left and right, looking for any signs of movement. Nothing, the bushes did not stir, he heard no footfalls, nothing at all. Even still he did not move; he was sure he was not alone.

The laughter came again, the young mage looked to the sky. There, only visible by its outline silhouetted by the moonlight, was an oddly large blackbird perched on the branch of a nearby tree. He stared at it for a moment, swearing to the goddess that it had laughed at him. It tilted its head in a bird like fashion and looked down upon him, seemingly retuning his gaze. It flew off the branch and fluttered down before him, as it came closer he reeled back so fast he lost balance and fell on his rump.

Silence, the crow was now at his feet, staring at him, it's head cocking and tilting this way and that. For a moment Nathan had the vaguest thought that it was going to speak…

"Having a bit of trouble already?" the bird asked, in the voice of an old lady.

Nathan's jaw immediately dropped in shock

"What's the matter?" asked the bird, "never seen a raven laguz before? What a pity" it shook its head solemnly, " you positively must get out more. Honestly, what do they teach you in those schools of yours?"

"Y-your a sub-human?" Nathan asked when the brief wave of awe had finally subsided.

The raven seemed to pout, Nathan really couldn't tell due to the lack of light and the fact that you need a human face to do it successfully, " Well isn't that a nice way to thank the old, poor lady who had given you power beyond your wildest dreams! And at only a mere one thousand and five pieces of gold! Honestly! Your were lucky I was in a generous mood!"

He sat there, profoundly confused "What are you talking about?"

The raven gave an impatient, aggravated sigh and slumped her shoulders, another all too human gesture, "Perhaps this will jog your memory…"

A flash of crimson light, the crow was gone. And in its place, a wizen old woman with wings as black as the night sky.

The wave of awe returned with double force, he stared at the figure with mouth agape for so long a small insect nearly flew into it.

Finally he found the words to speak, "Y-you!"

"Yes me! Ahahahahahaha!" she broke off into a cackling laughter again, "surprised sonny?"

Nathan shrugged as he got up, "not really" In fact he was very surprised, but he told this lie for two reasons: one: she was a sub-human and therefore the enemy, you never show weakness to an enemy no matter what kind it was. Two: now that he found out she was a sub-human, he wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible. 'To interact with a sub-human means to conspire with evil' was what they had taught him in schools, and it resulted in the cruelest of punishments and social abandonment.

But his response only seemed to anger her, "Not really! _Not really!_ Not really my foot! Stop your lying boy, it's not a good habit."

"Why are you here?" he asked

"Well, well want to get to the point so fast? Why can't we just sit here and chat a bit?"

"I'd rather not"

"Fine, I was just checking on you that's all"

Nathan raised an eyebrow, "checking on me?"

"Yes, surprised that I cared? I was curious to see how you were doing with the stone. Now where is it? I hope you didn't just leave it there at camp." She glanced at his left hand, "Oh dear, gone and lost it have you? And I thought you'd be more responsible." She shook her head sadly.

"I didn't lose it!" He said, louder than he intended, " It was taken from me!"

"Oh well, that's to bad-"

"And I was killed for it!"

"Well could you blame them sonny? After all, you're the oracle! You can see into the future, the past, you could communicate with the spirits and be brought back from the dead. You could journey though time and never age, Why, I've been killed a couple times myself I have! There was this one time I-"

"Wait wait, what are you talking about?"

The old raven put her hand to her mouth, "Woops, didn't mean to say that. Must've gotten carried away, you know these midnight meetings-"

"What were you talking about before?" he asked again, "All that 'journey though time and never age' stuff?"

"Ah! Speaking of time!" for some unapparent reason she glanced at her wrist, "I've got to go, busy busy and all that." The old woman disappeared and the raven flew off towards the moon. Nathan called after it, but got only a cackling laughter in reply.

* * *

The summons came to him in the evening, after they had finally passed through the iron gates of Daein. It was barley dusk; the sun had all but set leaving little light to travel by. Everyone was exhausted; soliders either retired with their families or went out to the nearest bar to drink away their troubles. Nathan had resolved to immediately go to his quarters and take a long, well-deserved nap when a messenger had called out to him on his way there. It seemed his master requested his immediate assistance; Nathan sighed and went off to meet his master at the palace gates. 

His master turned to meet him as he approached, "you summoned me, master?" Nathan asked as he stared into the metal sheath that had enshrouded his master's face.

"Yes Nathan, it would seem in the past few weeks you've grown very useful to me" said his master, "Thanks to your newly acquired powers, we have staged an assault on a fully armed and well defended city that should have taken months, perhaps years, to plan. Let alone attempt."

Nathan's eyes widened in disbelief, was his master actually praising him?

"Are you listening, boy?"

"Yes master, I've hung onto every word."

"You had better, boy. You will have need of my instruction as I give out your new task. A task that will not only make you an invaluable asset to me, but will open the eyes of the king himself to you talents."

Nathan's eyes bulged to the point where they almost popped out of his head with excitement and awe. This was his chance! He would finally be recognized! Glory would finally be his; he could hardly breath in his excitement.

The Black Knight saw this, "Of course, if the prospect of this errand his to great for a mere peasant like you to bear, I shall assign someone with a much higher rank…"

"No! I-" he stopped himself, "I mean, no master, I am more that willing to accept the task you have set before me, whatever it may be."

Underneath the mask, the Black Knight gained a wry smirk, "Very well then" he beckoned Nathan to stand at his side; He took, seemingly from thin air, a small leather pouch. He loosened the string keeping it's contents inside and poured a red, glittering powder onto the stone floor. The powder spread itself out around them and had formed a complex rune, in which they stood in the center. It glowed with tremendous energy; Nathan could feel a sort of tingly sensation in his bowls. Then, altogether in a flash, they vanished.

* * *

The next thing he knew he was on his hands and knees, staring at a soft layer of topsoil. He took in big gulps of air; he was sweating. It was the first time he used his master's warping powder to travel; it did not feel at all pleasant. He felt as if he was being torn apart, like the powder was sucking a part of his life out of him. He felt exhausted, his master, however, seem to enjoy it. He strode out onto the new earth as if he were beginning a stroll in the courtyard.

"Oh, I had forgotten" said the Black Knight in a voice of mock concern, " it is your first time using warp powder to travel is it not? I apologize if it had slipped my mind to accommodate you; I'm not used carrying any dead weight. Do you need a moment to gather yourself or-"

"No!" He got up, despite the queasy sensation in his stomach that made him want to throw up, "I-I'm fine"

"Very well then" said his master as he regarded him with cold eyes, "We are on the island of Razia, a location I'm sure you're not familiar with. We are here to retrieve a powerful artifact for the king himself, it is known as the Armour of Demitri. And no, we are no longer in Daein, if that's what you're wondering."

The Black Knight paused, "How strong is this armor?" Nathan asked.

"Impenetrable" said the Black Knight, "It is a suit of armor blessed by the goddess Ashera herself, only equally sacred weapons stand the chance of even scratching it."

"Is it stronger than yours?"

He thought he heard his master scoff, "you needn't concern yourself with that," he paused for another few seconds, "you're not armed are you?"

For the first time Nathan realized he hadn't even prepared himself for a mission, he was still wearing the same dusty cloths since Gallia. "No sir"

"A pity"

"Sir, why do you need me here?"

"You're going to retrieve the armor for me."

Nathan furrowed his brows in perplexity, "I'm not quite sure I understand sir."

His master gave a sinister chuckle "don't worry, you will. Now come!" His master began to journey into a sea of trees, still wobbly on his feet from the powder, Nathan followed as best he could.

The whole ground was covered in brown dead leaves, branches protruded from the ground making him stumble. It was evening now, but neither the stars nor the moon could be seen. Dark clouds masked them from sight; it became so dark Nathan had the worst trouble seeing the path in front of him. He almost had to feel his way through, and the black color of his master's armor didn't help matters either. In this darkness, his master's blood red cape looked as if it was supported by a Phantasm. At least he had that, and the crunching footsteps, to follow.

Now that he thought about it, there wasn't a single leaf on any of the trees. They all looked dead, or petrified. It reminded him of those tales where the person is walking though a dark forest on Halloween night, with only a lantern at their side. Then the evil sprit comes and makes him vanish, gone. Without any trace left of him, no matter how hard everyone looked…

Nathan shook his head in frustration, now was not the time to scare himself. He was on a mission, after years of waiting. He wasn't going to chicken out now, especially not because of some dumb stories that only three year olds believe. This was his chance, his time to shine. He refused to be scared off by some stupid tales of vampires, zombies, ghouls, lycanthropes, he didn't believe those things back then and he didn't now. This was his final chance and nothing; absolutely _nothing _was going to stop him.

But it would have helped if it weren't so blasted dark, then at least he could see where he was going. Perhaps, if he weren't so concerned with his sight, he could hear the stealthy footfalls of an angry stalker, watching them with its unhuman eyes.

* * *

Pitch-black darkness surrounded them, the stone trees cast evil shadows. Their feet went _crunch crunch crunch _against the dead earth and leaves. It was all so familiar to the Black Knight. The memory was distant; it was a different time. A different life.

He stopped for a few moments to let the straggler catch up. Doubtless he had trouble seeing, the Petrified Wood could be so difficult to navigate if you didn't know the path. And, of course, _they _were always watching.

He heard the boy nearly running toward him in frightened steps, panting and sweating. "Master" he said, "I-I think we're not alone here."

"Don't be a fool, boy" he responded, " Nothing's inhabited this forest for centuries, look around, do you see anything moving?"

"No sir"

"Does your oracle stone contradict me?"

"…No sir"

"Then we press on." It was a lie of course; he couldn't have the boy chickening out on him yet. The last thing he needed now was his cowardice.

They walked on for what seemed like miles, surely the boy had trouble keeping up, but, whether out of pride or fear, he never voiced another complaint. He admired that, power and will were two traits he held in esteem and his servant had more than the entire army of Daein combined. But he was also innocent and easily manipulated, and that was what would lead him to his doom. At the mere prospect of glory he had come calling like a dog after a steak.

The Wood came to an end; they stood at the gate of a great stone castle centuries old. The gate itself was made of solid stone bricks; at the top were ten-foot tall spikes. Spires at each corner of the gate kept a watchful eye on passersby, though they haven't been manned for years. The castle was made of the same brickwork as the wall; with towers so tall they reached up to the clouds. The tallest tower could not be seen at all, the dark clouds that loomed over the sky hid it from view.

The Black Knight took three steps forward towards the wrought iron gate; he could feel the powerful magic stirring within. He held out a hand and spoke the incantation, the magic resisted, strong at first, then it withered and died. The gate flew open. Beyond the magic gate were the castle grounds, a stone path, and two gigantic iron doors.

The Black Knight turned to his servant, "Follow that stone path and open the gates, use the knocker and bang three times on the door. Don't touch anything."

"Wait, aren't you coming with me?" he asked

"If I could enter that castle myself, would I need you here?" he asked in reply. It was plain obvious, no matter how hard the boy tried to conceal it, that he was greatly intimidated by the castle. "If you walk away now with your tail between you legs then all this will have been for naught, you chance will be wasted, you will never get another one like it. If you would rather return to the life you have now, that of a lowly servant, of no noble birth, of no great mention, forever living among the ranks of those who could never comprehend you power. If you would rather live you pathetic life as a dirty, meaningless serf, then by all means walk away now like the coward you truly are."

His servant stood, straight back, eyes blazing with anger. 'Yes' thought the Black Knight, 'let your anger cloud you judgment, let you pride become you downfall'

"I am not afraid," said the boy, as he turned and walked down the long stone pathway, once or twice he stumbled, but he made it to the door all right. He took the banger on the iron door and knocked thrice. Silence, a moment, and the door opened. The boy disappeared into the darkness.

The Black Knight stood at the gate, waiting, watching. Silence filled the air, nothing but the faint outline of the castle could be seen.

"Why have you returned?" asked a voice hidden in the shadow of the Wood.

"Well met, Bartimaeus"

"You have broken the laws we abide here, in this sacred place. You have defied the will of the goddess herself! The penalty for such acts could only be the most severe."

"I believe you are mistaken," said the Black Knight, "The law had said I could no longer enter the castle itself, it did not say I could not set foot on the island."

"Be that as it may," said the voice, "why return if not to enter the castle? If you have told someone of its location then you have defied the law still."

"I have told no one, I merely brought him here. Though you are correct, I do want something here."

"And pray, what might that be?"

"The Armour of Demitri"

"You refer to the suit of armor you are currently wearing, and have been wearing for the last ten years?"

"No, the other one. I saw it ten years ago, when I was first here."

"I see, and who, pray tell, have you decided to send to his death at my claws and those of Faquarl?"

"The oracle"

The voice let out a billowing laugh, the wind howled and roared at the jest. "The oracle? The _oracle_? An oracle has not been seen on this continent since the great flood!"

"Even so, he is there, wandering the castle halls, as we speak."

Another, more quite laugh, "Then I shall greet this 'oracle'"

A flash of movement, a dark shape flew from the wood and, in a single bound, crashed through the iron doors. The Black Knight could hear the excitement in its footfalls as the doors closed slowly in its wake.

* * *

The torches had magically lit themselves as Nathan walked down the vast hall, at the end of every corridor, as if guiding him down the right place. Which was, in a fairly creepy way, good. His master had not given him instruction prior to entering the castle, he only knew from what he had mentioned that it was a suit of armor. Of course, Nathan didn't have the foggiest idea of what it even looked like.

The torches lit down another corridor as he turned, Nathan had no other option but to follow them, to risk the other way meant wandering in complete darkness. There was also the possibility that these torches led to nowhere, or, perhaps worse, to some_thing. _He gulped, and wished he had brought the Fire tome at least.

The torches led down a spiral staircase that looked as if it were carved by waterways and time. There was a sound of stone scraping on stone behind him, he turned. A door closed behind him, leaving only the light of the torches before him as guidance. The door was made of solid stone, and had risen from a slit in the floor. He had no choice but to swallow the panic in his throat and descend the steps.

As he walked the stonework of the castle soon disappeared to be replaced by the river worn, walls of caves. Behind the initial fear and excitement of the unknown, somewhere in the back of his mind, he couldn't help think he had seen all this before. But where?

The stairs came to and end, two torches lit on either side of a wall. Nathan looked in awe, the oracle stone shone strongly in his hand.

Then, nothing.


	19. Chapter 19: The Chronicles

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 19: The Chronicles

_It was long ago, during the prosperic Golden Age. The continents of Persis, Razia, Tellius, and Goldoa lived united under one leader. Laguz and humans, man and beast, existed in the same world without hatred or strife. Exploration flourished, many lands were discovered over the vast sea. Hunger was never an issue, there was, for some reason, always food on the table. They had no enemies, their empire was vast and powerful, the strongest in the world. It seemed as if the light of the goddess would always shine over them. _

_But high above them, in the heavens themselves, there was conflict. Demitri, the brother of Ashera, was brooding. He paced across the universe, hands behind his back, pondering thoughts of maliciousness and destruction. His steps could be heard as furious thunder, his intentions could be translated into acid rain. He found himself loathing his sister over the years, with, as he thought, good reason. Why should she be the one with the power? Was he not the eldest? Was he not the first born? What powers did Ashera have that had made her so special as to become the goddess of the universe? It should have been him. _

_At the thought of this the thunderous pacing boomed with rage and frustration, there was nothing he could do. The will of his late father, Forcyctus, still held firm, and there would be dire consequences for god or deity who dare opposed it. _

_The thunder ceased, Demitri looked up. He saw the entire universe displayed before him, like very decorative wallpaper. All the planets, suns, stars. All of which would soon be his. _

_Slowly, he began to laugh._

_

* * *

Nathan opened his eyes to a sudden blaze of light that nearly blinded him. He shut them again, feeling the searing heat against his face, why was it so close? It lasted only a short while, however. He opened his eyes once more, light still surrounded him but it was less intense. He was able to see._

And what he did see was simply a marvel. As the oracle stone glow lit the area completely, before him stood the grand mural depicting the great Creation. There in the center of the mural were four continents, surrounded by a vast sea made with extraordinary detail. The waves looked as if they were really moving back and forth, or crushing against the land in a great spittle of white foam. Above the continents, as the main object of the mural, was a girl with deep purple hair sitting on a marvelous gold throne; she was surrounded by light. Below her were several other beings, reaching up, as if wanting to catch some of the greatness coming down from her. Around her were four beings, each bowing and presenting some sort of object before her. To Nathan they didn't look like gods at all, In fact, among the other, greater beings; they didn't look as if they even belong in this particular mural. But there they were, he wondered what purpose they served to the girl that would be so great that she would put them above other gods in importance. He thought about this, thinking it must be the thing they were offering. He walked over and tried to examine it more closely, one held up a sword, the other a staff, he couldn't make out the next one, possibly a book or something. The last person didn't seem to be holding up anything at all.

Then he saw him, as if he had just appeared out of thin air. He stood at the right of the girl, shadowed almost completely by the throne, but you could make out his eyes, and his face. The eyes were dark and cold amongst the black tiles around him; his mouth was twisted into a hideous scowl. He looked at the girl out of the corner of his eye, his head turned ever so slightly. For a reason he couldn't fully understand, Nathan was shaking. He wanted to scream to the girl on the throne to beat it out of there while she still had the chance. But he knew she would move, after all, she still had the rest of the world to build.

"Well well, what have we here? A lost little newcomer?" asked a voice.

Nathan turned; the light of the oracle stone had just died, now the only thing that lit the mural were the torches hanging on the walls. It was like something out of the old Halloween stories. When, as the victim straddles about in complete darkness, he hears a noise. A quick turn, and, stepping out of the shadows, the demon appears. It's claws dripping, teeth shimmering in what little light there was, eyes red with bloodlust. Of course, as you listen closely around the campfire, you're screaming in you head 'why in the name of the goddess doesn't he run!' Now, at least, he knew why.

Instinctively, his hand went to his side, reaching for a tome that wasn't there. He cursed. The wolf man took a step forward, he took a step back.

"Oh please, don't even bother," said the wolf man, "I mean you no harm."

He edged a little bit further; a thought ran across his mind that he should make a break for it.

The wolf man gave a highly audible sigh, "Look, we both know where running away will get you."

"We do?" asked Nathan, desperately trying to buy some time.

"Of course we do! You try to run, I catch you. Simple, and if your wondering how, I can run much faster than you. And even if you did, miraculously, lose me, you'll get lost in the castle. Then I will find you."

"You will?"

"I know this castle like the back of my hand, trust me, I'd find you."

"So…there's really no way for me to escape?"

"No, so there's no point in trying."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I'm sure! Now come on, we've got somewhere to be."

"You mean…you're not going to eat me?"

"Of course not! Didn't I just say that? Besides, we laguz hate the taste of human flesh. It's all gamy and tastes very similar to soap"

"You're a sub-human!"

"Well that's a nice way to put it, perhaps I should eat you…"

"I-I-I'm sorry! I mean no offense!"

"Well it sure sounded like you did."

"Sorry, I didn't think"

"Humph, well next time choose you're words more carefully."

"How shall I address you?" he asked, figuring if being courteous will delay his death, might as well do it.

"Ever heard of the term 'laguz'?"

"Is that what you call other sub-sorry, others of your kind?"

"Wow are you dumb, what do they teach you in schools?"

Actually, if he chose to blame the educational system the blame wouldn't be misplaced. He'd never heard of the term laguz because no one had ever taught him.

"Do you have a name?" he asked the wolf man.

"Of course I have a name."

"Then what is it?"

"Bartimaeus"

"Alright Bartimaeus, I will follow you, but you must solemnly swear that no harm will come to me before and after we reach our destination, understand?"

"Heh heh, you serious?" he asked

"Yes"

"Fine, I solemnly swear that no harm will come to you, before and after we reach our destination. Can we go now? Faquarl is waiting."

"Who?"

"My companion for the last couple thousand years, he wants to meet you, O great oracle, and right now he's very testy. And when he gets testy, he starts to get hungry too."

The wolf man suddenly bust into a flash of light, and a boy in his late teens with pale skin, ivory white hair, and dark eyes appeared before him.

"What" the boy asked, "Never seen a laguz change form before?"

"Actually I have," replied Nathan.

"Good, at least I know you get out a little," he plucked a torch from the wall, then put it back, "now let's go, I'll explain on the way."

* * *

"So, what is this place?" Nathan asked, as the laguz Bartimaeus lead him down this ridiculously long corridor. As the torches lit their way, Nathan could see more murals on the walls, though he received no visions from them. He caught only glimpses of them as they passed; as Bartimaeus would not let them stop for a moment to thoroughly examine one.

"This is the hall of Chronicles," he said, "The recorded history of your world."

"You mean to say," he began with awe, "that all of the things on these drawings…"

"Actually happened," finished Bartimaeus, "And they're not drawings, they're murals."

Nathan began spinning around as he walked, trying to take them all in. "All of them?" he asked.

"Yes," said Bartimaeus with a slight irritation in his voice.

"Even that one?" Nathan pointed at a mural that depicted lions, tigers, and wolf men running across a carpet of green meadow. Hawks soaring across the sky, the sun shining brightly, the sky sea blue. They frolicked together in what seemed to be a game, they looked very happy.

"What's the matter? Never seen a happy laguz before?" asked Bartimaeus.

"What about us?" Nathan asked

"Us?"

"You know, humans."

He heard him puff out a breath in exasperation, "You want to see humans?" he asked, quite dangerously. "There"

He stuck out his left arm and pointed to a mural depicting people walking in a straight line in chains. Men with cattails, and fangs, and wings, marching through the black and red scene. Their heads down, a man with a whip trailed after them, waving it menacingly. In the background, what appeared to be a woman with wings on her back, cringing on the ground as another man stood over her with a whip poised to strike. Her hair covered her face completely, her hands were over the top of her head, feathers fell freely from her wings. Farther into the background, three humans stood atop a tall tower, one pointing to something, presumably the winged woman, as if giving an order.

As Nathan stood before it, absorbing every little detail, he suddenly felt the hold the mural had on him. It made him feel something he never felt toward a sub-human before, pity.

"Makes you sick, doesn't it?" asked Bartimaeus, who had also stopped and stood next to him. "All the evils and sins the human race has committed, and the funny thing is, they don't even know they commit sins because they don't see us as equals. If it was a human suffering this kind of torture that'd really boil them up, wouldn't it? But see a once honorable laguz in this kind of treatment and they just blow it off, don't they?" he spat on the floor, "Sick, humans make me sick. They are never satisfied, they just want more and more. If you gave them the secret to all of life on a silver platter they'd slap the platter out of your hands and demand that it be a gold one."

He turned his head to Nathan, who was looking down at the toes of his shoes.

"I know what it's like…to be inferior." He said.

"So you think you humans are superior to us, is that it?"

"No! I mean, I know what it's like to be like…well…like that."

Bartimaeus folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow, "You do, do you?"

Nathan nodded, Bartimaeus waited for him to say something else, but he said nothing.

"Well I can see why, being the Black Knight's manservant must be hell." He said.

Nathan raised his head and turned it toward him, "How did you-"

"May we postpone this conversation?" Bartimaeus suddenly asked, "We are running extremely late for our meeting with Faquarl, if you want the armor you'll have to speak with him."

Nathan looked back at the mural, "did all this really happen?"

"Yes, you see what you're doing don't you? You see what you're king Ashnard is planning, don't you? If you allow him to succeed this will all be repeated, only much worse."

"I know, but what am I supposed to do?"

Bartimaeus gave a sigh, "You're the oracle, you tell me."

Another glance, and the two walked off, the magic torches lighting their way through the darkness.


	20. Chapter 20: Armor of Demitri

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 20: Armour of Demitri

At the farthest end of the hall stood two huge wooden doors, very similar to the ones on the surface guarding the castle entrance, guarding the statue chamber. Carved across them, if one could read the ancient language, were the words "Work room, do not disturbed when doors are closed." Sure enough, on this very occasion, they were closed. Behind them was one terrifying beast. The head of a bull, the body of a man, or something very similar to one, and the bottom half of the same bull the head came from. It carried around a hammer and a chisel, as, though however absurd you may think; it was one of the best sculptors in the history of Tellius.

Also, at this point and time, he was currently occupied with creating one of the most astounding statues in history. It was one of a Gorgon, an astoundingly beautiful Gorgon. Of course, all Gorgons were beautiful in their human form, it is rumored that they are even more so in their snake form. But one thing the monster prided himself on was, and he felt this was lacking in modern day sculptures, accuracy and attention to detail. He felt that sculptures today like to slightly bend the image to look either more beautiful, or more ugly, that it really was. That was something he just couldn't stand, to him sculpting was like writing, every statue should tell a story about the person or thing the statue concerned. This vision, he felt, had been abandoned by modern artists, who forgot the history of the thing in question and just hammered on at the block of marble, or graphite, or whatever it was willy nilly. Accuracy and detail to history, that was the key to great sculpting.

And right now, as the statue neared completion, it looked so accurate that the thing probably could turn you to stone, if you happened to glance in it's direction out of the corner of your eye and not realize it was a statue. The Minotaur stared at it from a distance, his hand to his chin, stroking his beard. It was missing something.

It was at this moment, Bartimaeus and Nathan decided to make their entrance. "Still working on the statue of Medusa?" Bartimaeus asked, as Nathan watched the huge doors closed themselves with a loud, woody creaking that echoed throughout the chamber.

Faquarl nodded, still stroking his beard, "I can't help but think it's missing something."

Bartimaeus glanced at the statue and shrugged, "Looks fine to me."

"As usual Bartimaeus, you have no artistic vision," retorted Faquarl.

"What is that?" asked Nathan, whose fascination with the doors ended when they gave a final ca-clank! as they shut.

"That is Medusa, the queen of Gorgons," replied Faqural.

"What's a Gorgon?" Nathan asked

Faquarl turned to him in surprise, a finger still enwrapped in a strand of hair, "You don't know what a Gorgon is?"

"Er…no."

"You don't know what a Gorgon is?"

"No"

"Humans obviously don't have a reasonable way of passing history," said Bartimaeus, "He practically gaped when I showed him the 'Golden age of laguz' mural you made."

"You made those murals?" Nathan asked Faquarl.

"But Bartimaeus," said Faquarl, completely ignoring him, "surly he must have heard something! I mean, who's never heard of a Gorgon? They're kind of hard not to hear about, you know? Always turning important people to stone, they kind of had a knack for that."

"Excuse me," said Nathan, cutting into the conversation, "But you still haven't explained to me what a Gorgon exactly is."

"A Gorgon," began Faquarl, "better known as the snake people, is a serpent race, obviously, who have the power to turn any living thing to stone just by looking at it. In their human form, they were dazzlingly beautiful women with a withering pile of tiny snakes for hair. Bartimaeus I believe you've actually had the pleasure of meeting the queen of the Gorgons herself."

"It was at a royal conference," said Bartimaeus, "everyone was in heated debate about the battles taking place overseas and on the boarders of Goldoa and Persis from outside invaders. Suddenly we hear hissing sounds and everyone is instantly hushed, Medusa and two of her attendents walk right in, in their human form I suspect, and greatly apologized for being late." He chuckled as he remembered the next part, "Poor dragon king, couldn't even look her in the eye as she apologized to him. He looked about as meek as a newborn goat. Of course everyone was the same, myself included. The conference continued with a great deal of, how should I put it, awkwardness. As, seeing as no one wanted to be turned to stone, everyone kept their eyes glued to the floor or their feet. No one looked at anyone, as a precaution to never accidentally glance at the Gorgons faces."

"It is said that no one as ever seen a Gorgons face except, well, other Gorgons of course," said Bartimaeus, "maybe that's what your missing with your statue Faquarl, a face."

Faquarl looked back at the statue, as did Nathan. Sure enough, among the tangled clump of snakes that was her hair, Medusa's face eluded her.

"You know I think you may be right Bartimaeus," said Faquarl, "But I can hardly be blamed for that, can I?"

"True"

"Why can't you look a Gorgon in the face?" asked Nathan

"Because one glance and it will turn you to stone" said Faquarl, "didn't you listen to a word I said?"

Actually, Nathan got lost on the 'serpent people' concept, "I see…"

"They were so lethal," said Bartimaeus, "That they had to have an entire island to themselves. And they were rarely invited over to the others, you can imagine what kind of destructive abilities a power like that has, bet it was a real drag at parties though."

"I think what my colleague is trying to say," cut in Faquarl, "is that they were greatly shunned by society because of this extraordinary power to deal death with a single glance."

"Wow…I didn't know a laguz could be so powerful…" said Nathan.

"Humph, why? Can't a laguz be any more powerful that you humans?" asked Faquarl.

"Er…what I meant to say wa-"

"I'll have you know," interrupted Faquarl, "That, back in my time, I was one of the most powerful laguz in existence. I was Faquarl, the king of the raging bulls!"

"…Really?"

"Yes"

"Huh…"

Faquarl eyed him suspiciously, "you don't sound that impressed"

"No, no I'm very impressed."

"You don't sound it"

"Can we please just get to the armor chamber?" asked Bartimaeus.

"…All right" replied Faquarl. He turned and began to walk through to the other side of the chamber, "Follow me"

Faquarl snapped his fingers, and torches lit up all over the room, revealing the true size of the chamber. Hundreds of statues stood before them like a great crowd, talking and reminiscing about the days of old. Faquarl plunged right into the throng, Nathan and Bartimaeus followed. There were thousands of them, all perfectly made with such excruciating detail it seemed as if they might come alive at any second. There were kings, princes, knights, beautiful princesses, he wished he could have met all of them and learned the things his own people had kept from him for hundreds of years. He wished he could stay here and learn the true history of Tellius, learn who these people were, where they came from, what they did to get a mention and a statue out of them. He wanted to learn the truth.

When he said this out loud, Faquarl told him to look on the stone pedestals, sure enough, there was a name written for each one of them. As well as the year they were born and the one they died on. As they went on, Nathan continued to look up at the faces that surrounded him, and suddenly he spotted one very familiar.

"Hey Bartimaeus, it's you!" he said to the wolf man.

Bartimaeus gave the statue a glance, shrugged, and walked on. Nathan gave the statue a close examination.

"It says here," he said as he read the inscription on the base of the statue, "'Bartimaeus, son of Diaphous, prince of the silver wolves.'" He turned to Bartimaeus, who had stopped and waited for him to finish. "Prince of the silver wolves," he repeated, "So you're royalty as well?"

He gave another nonchalant shrug, "Yeah, I guess. It's not a big deal or anything, just one of many." He glanced at Faquarl.

"You mean all of these are laguz royalty?" Nathan asked, looking around.

"Well, no. Some are your beroc royalty, the ones worth mentioning anyway."

"How many s-er-laguz were there?"

"A lot" said Faquarl, "certainly more then there are now, can we please move it along? I still have a lot of work to do."

They walked on, Nathan continued to ask questions.

"So, how many laguz actually were there?"

"I told you, a lot," said Faquarl

"I meant, how many types?"

"As many as there were laguz," said Bartimaeus

"Can you name some?"

"Uh…well," Bartimaeus took a moment to think, "There was the snake tribe, the bear tribe, the bat tribe, the dragon tribe, I don't know if they're still around…"

"Only the dragon tribe" said Nathan, "The rest I've never even heard of"

"Ah, I see. A pity."

"Were there more?" asked Nathan, anxious to find out more of the laguz's mysterious past.

"Well, there was the lion tribe, the hawk tribe, the raven tribe, the horse tribe, the mouse tribe, particularly useless bunch the mouse tribe, the gorilla tribe, …what else?"

"There was the sea tribe," said Faquarl.

"Ah, yes, the sea tribe, with all the half-fish half-human people. What were the called again Faquarl?"

"Mer people"

"Yes, that was it!"

"So, I'm assuming there was also a wolf tribe and a bull tribe?" asked Nathan

"Of course!"

"And since, I'm assuming, all the other tribes are extinct, how are you and Faquarl still alive?"

"Well…there's a funny story that goes along with that," said Bartimaeus, "It is true, all of our fellow kinsman are dead and thousands of feet under water after the great flood. But Faquarl and I were an exception; we were two of Ashera's divine vassals."

"You were what?"

"Remember the mural? The one you had a vision about?"

"Yeah…"

"Did you see the four people kneeling in front of Ashera? Higher and more divine that the gods themselves?"

"…That was you guys!"

Bartimaeus smirked at him, "I was the one with the book."

"I held the staff," said Faquarl.

"What about the other two?"

"They were beroc, they decided they didn't want to be stuck in an old, musty castle for all of eternity. Their descendants still walk the earth though, one is a blue haired swordsman who isabout to change Tellius forever, you may hear of him when you get back."

"And the other?"

"Heh, I'd hate to spoil the surprise for you."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, but left it at that.

"So, what is this Armor I've been sent to get exactly?"

"It's a suit of magical armor, forged specifically for the dark god Demitri himself," said Faquarl, "Though, before he got to use it, Ashera found out that he planned to use it against her. He had to hide it, and what better place then Earth?"

"And, what happened to Demitri?"

"Do they teach you nothing? He did battle with Ashera, causing the great flood and eventually was imprisoned in Lehran's medallion, everyone knows that!"

"I knew that…I thought that was different though."

The armor also holds a curse," said Bartimaeus, "That anyone who wears it will be incased for all of eternity. Even their souls will not escape."

They came to two stone doors, gray and cracking with age. A single, huge red stone sat in the middle of them. Like an eye. Faquarl stepped forward and bowed in front of the doors, the eye began to glow a bright red. It continued to glow till it lit the entire hallway; Nathan and Bartimaeus shielded their eyes.

"Is he going to be okay?" Nathan yelled, even though his voice carried just fine.

"Don't worry, we've done this before," replied Bartimaeus, "although, that was a long time ago."

Suddenly, the brightness ceased. The crimson light sucked right back into the eye, it went dim. Faquarl suddenly sprang back up and ran, Bartimaeus ducked to the ground. Nathan looked to the door, confused.

Then a flash, pieces of stone were blown everywhere, flying past him. Nathan was swept off his feet. Dust and smoke surrounded them. Bartimaeus and Faquarl got to their feet; Bartimaeus stretched out a hand to Nathan and helped him get up also. When the dust settled the only thing that remained of the stone door were bits and pieces of rock and debris.

"What happened?" asked Nathan.

"Door exploded," replied Faquarl, "don't worry, that happens all the time."

Faquarl and Bartimaeus proceeded into the chamber, Nathan followed suit. As he stepped in, he could hear the sound of stone scraping against stone. He turned and saw that the tiny dust and stone that was left were beginning to gather and form the shape of the stone door they once resembled. After doing so, they solidified and the door stood once more. He gaped in awe for a few moments before his attention was called to the room.

It differed vastly from the other chambers he had been in. Well carved pillars held up the chamber, the walls were adorned with tapestry. There were even windows that peered out into stain glass fields and meadows. There was a red rug that covered the middle of the floor of the chamber; it ended in gold tassels. Weaved into the rug was the man Nathan had seen in the mural lurking in the shadows of his sister. He had his hands raised and seemed to be laughing with a forked tongue wobbling in the air as he did so. Above him was the medallion that was to be his prison for the next couple thousand years, weaved around it was a burst of light to add a flashy background. There were also jewels of every kind embedded into the rug, three in each corner.

"Marvelous, isn't it?" said Faquarl, Nathan looked up to see the Minotaur also admiring the work of art. "I weaved this rug, many years ago. One of my best works, I must say. The Imprisonment of Demitri is what I call it."

"It's nice," said Nathan

"Nice? _Nice? _Good grief man, it's a work of art! Are you blind?"

"I-That's what I meant!" said Nathan, taken aback by this sudden reaction, "work of art"

"Well, not that the rug isn't a spectacle," cut in Bartimaeus, "But I believe this is what you're looking for."

He gestured to a diamond case, clear as crystal. A suit of armor stood inside.

Nathan came closer, seemingly unable to take his eyes off it. Bartimaeus and Faquarl looked to each other in confusion. The oracle stone and the armor began to glow; Nathan put his left hand to the case and, at his touch, the casing melted away. The room began to lift up, the floors and walls became white lights and disappeared.

A childish voice, that of a little girl, greeted him.


	21. Chapter 21: Prince of Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

**Chapter 21: Prince of Darkness**

_Razia. The continent of oracles. _

_It's prince, sir Colvin, stared out of his bedchamber window. His favorite one, that presents a clear, undistorted view of the sea. Especially his favorite on a sunrise and sunset, when the clouds had vanished over the horizon, leaving a golden red sky. _

_That was not the case today; the sky was black with storm clouds, the likes of which he had never seen before. Lightning raged and flashed in the air, thunder roared and boomed. Winds that threatened to blow the castle down, waves that threatened to sink the entire continent. It was as if the gods themselves were doing battle in the heavens. _

_A flash of lightning, followed by a bust of thunder, drove him back. It looked so close! It was at the very window front, threatening to come in. Cautiously, he peered down the windowsill. Right where the gate of the castle used to be, a crater had appeared. It wasn't that large, however, and he reasoned this must be so only because the lightning had been a quick strike. Still, the gate had been totally demolished, in the brief flashes of lightning; he could see the palace guards beginning to crowd around it. Their curiosity was understandable; it was the first time lightning had struck a gate at such low an altitude, especially if there were other, much higher, things to hit. He's curiosity peaked, he would liked to have gone and investigated. Unfortunately, he was supposed to be deep in his studies. He sighed, and strained to see though the darkness. Through another brief flash of lightning, he saw a guard bend down and pick something up from the crater. Another flash, and he could see the guards crowding around him. He could see the silhouette of the guards running into the castle, enough was enough, he had to know what was going on._

_He came down, and ran out into the throne room, a solider was presenting something to his father, the king._

"_My liege," said the guard, "We have found this, a message from the gods." _

_His father raised an eyebrow, his well know look of skepticism._

"_What makes you think this is from the gods?" he asked._

"_It came down in a lightning bolt sir." _

_His father's eyebrows furrowed, a look of curiosity, "A lightning bolt you say?" _

"_Y-Yes." _

"…_I see." The king rose, "Show me where you found this." _

"_B-But sir! It's soaking wet outside!" _

"_Do you think I care if my outfit gets wet?" the king asked, "Do you think me a vain, pompous fool?" _

"_N-N-No sir! Of course not!" said the guard hastily. _

"_Then take me to where you found this immediately!" _

"_O-Of course sir! Right this way!" _

_It was at that time that Colvin decided to reveal himself, "Father, what's all the commotion about?" he asked._

_His father looked to him, "Oh, it's nothing son. Go back to your studies." _

_He groaned quietly, he was hoping he wouldn't say that._

_The thing in the soliders hands started glowing at the sound of his voice, "S-sir!" cried the solider. _

_The king and Colvin turned; an unknown force pushed the solider back. He flew from the stone against the wall, the stone floated in mid-air, looking very similar to a firefly. It flew as fast as the lightning that carried it, zigzagging it's way through the air aimlessly. More guards arrived at the scene, but only to pay eyewitness to the spectacle for themselves. _

_The stone finally ceased its random flight and flew straight for one of the guards. The guard flinched and covered its face to protect himself; it turned away at the last possible second and flew to the next face. He reacted in a similar fashion; it only got halfway to him before it turned away. It went straight for the king; all the guards reacted to that. But before they could step forward to protect him the stone was already in his face. _

_The king did not flinch, or even move, either because he was very brave or he didn't have the time. The stone hung on the brink of actually touching his nose; it darted around his head, seemingly examining him. Was he the right one? _

_Suddenly, the stone darted off in the direction of prince Colvin. He flinched, the stone stopped dead in near the bridge of his nose. He crossed his eyes to see it; it flew circles around his head. Examining every little detail, every little feature of his person. Finally, it flew back a few feet, stopped in mid air, and shot at him with renewed force. _

_He raised his arms to shield his face, the stone was undaunted, it seemed to fly faster with no intention of stopping, until, all of a sudden, it disappeared._

_The guards could not even react; they just stood there, weapons poised as if an invisible assailant were about to strike. The prince froze with his arms still up to protect his face, until he realized, with great embarrassment, that he was acting like a coward and that nothing was coming. He lowered his arms. _

"_W-where did it go?" asked a solider from the crowd. _

_They looked around; there was nothing, no sign of the mysterious stone for a time. Until something caught the king's eye, he pointed to something sparkling in his son's left hand. _

"_Son…look…" he managed to say. _

_The prince looked to his left hand, an aghast expression on his face. _

_The stone had embedded itself into the back of his hand._

_It was glowing slightly; he held it up, "Father, what does this mean?" he asked. _

_His father came closer to him and inspected the stone with a look of amazement on his face, "It means…" he said with awe in his voice, "You have been chosen by the goddess son…" _

"_Chosen…by the goddess?" _

* * *

_Colvin lay on his bed, hands behind his back, staring at the ceiling. All the continents greatest scholars couldn't figure out what had attached itself to his hand, they looked though every available reference. Every story, every document, every earthly record of the goddess's actions showed no reference to what had happened last night. _

_He sighed, he could hear the guards outside his door chatting about it, it seemed they were present. Of course they were, practically every one in the castle was there. He sighed again, why did it have to be him? _

_He shut his eyes and fell asleep._

_When he opened them again, he was flying in the air, thousands of feet above the continent. _

"_What the…? What the heck's going on!" he asked_

"_It seems to me, you're flying," answered a very young, purple haired girl._

_Colvin turned to face the girl, "Yeah, I can see that. But the last time I checked I couldn't fly…and who are you?" _

"_You wouldn't believe me," said the girl, "Even if I told you." _

"_Try me." _

"_Alright, I am the creator of the universe," she began, "I am the maker of worlds, I am the maker of the void. I have created the shining sun and the cold night sky; I am your alpha, and your omega. I am Ashera! The goddess of all you can see!" _

"_You're right…I don't believe you…" _

_The girl's voice suddenly became the booming equivalent of thunder, "You dare call me a liar!" _

_The sky around them darkened, the white clouds took on an angry black color, the winds around them became forceful. Ashera suddenly rose in a raging torrent of clouds and lightning, Colvin held his hands up to protect himself against the splicing winds, he was afraid they would blow him out to sea._

"_Okay!" he called over the howls of wind and the booming of thunder, "I believe you!" _

_The winds ceased, the clouds took their white color back, the sky turned blue once again. Ashera came down to his level, "It always takes a couple of frightening theatrics to get them to believe," she said to no one in particular. _

_Colvin slowly lowered his arms from his face; he looked at the little girl, who had formed a throne out of one of the clouds. "So…" he began, before Ashera cut him off. _

"_Let me guess, you have so many questions," she said, "Like why I chose you, and what do you have to do to serve my will, and blah blah blah." She made a mouth open-close gesture with her hands. _

"_I do have questions," said Colvin, "Starting with the first, why did you choose me?" _

_She shrugged and shifted upon her cloud throne, "I don't know…I guess it's because you're royalty…People will listen to you." _

"_Huh…I see…"_

"_And to get to the second question, look down below," she pointed down, back to the earth. Colvin looked and he could see a great battle taking place on the beeches of Razia, "What's happening?" he asked. _

"_What does it look like?" asked Ashera, her cloud throne disappeared and she lay on her stomach, hands holding up her head, "Their…what is it you mortals do so often…oh yeah, fighting!" _

_On the shallows of the beach, he could see the warships of the invading force. More and more troops poured out of the ships, and more ships came to the aid of the invaders. Wave after wave of them came from the sea, threatening to completely overwhelm the army of Razia. _

"_We must do something!" said Colvin._

_Ashera sighed, "Calm down, none of this is really happening." _

"_What?" _

"_Well, not yet," she put a finger to her lips, "I'd say in about…a few weeks." _

_Colvin stared at her blankly, "You don't get it do you?" she asked._

_He shook his head, Ashera sighed, "It's a vision," she said, "This is what would happen in the future." _

"_Is there anything I could do to stop it?" he asked._

"_Of course!" she said," That's the whole reason I gave you the oracle stone in the first place! To stop things like this from happening!" _

"…_But why me?" he asked.__  
_

_" I just answered that."_

"_But why Razia? What have we done to win you're favor?" _

"_Mmmmm…" she gave a long pause before she answered, "Nothing"_

"_But then why?"_

_She shrugged, "I don't know…I just find it interesting to meddle in mortal affaires." _

_Suddenly the scene began to fade, his vision became blurry, his head began to ache, he looked to the girl but already she seemed to be fading away like a cloud…_

* * *

_He woke up, back in his room. The guards were still chatting, barely any time had passed since he fell asleep. He sat up, he was panting and sweating. Was it just a dream? Could it really be true? Had he just met the goddess of this world? He looked to his left hand; the oracle stone was glowing as if all the light in the sun was shinning on it. _

_There was no doubt in his mind, what he saw was real._

_He had to tell his father immediately! No, not immediately, Ashera said the attack would come in a few weeks. His father wouldn't wait that long, he would tell him in advance, when the attack was just at their doorstep. Oh! But he didn't know when the attack was coming! She hadn't given specifics. He growled in frustration, what kind of goddess was she anyway? There was no use for it then, he had to tell his father now. Perhaps if he pleaded, he would send some watchmen out to patrol the beaches at least. After all, the goddess had chosen him, and, seeing as how he was chosen just a few hours ago, his father couldn't really argue. _

* * *

"…_So what happened next?" Nathan asked the twelve year old, purple haired girl as they floated above his unconscious body. _

"_Well, of course his father listened to him," said Ashera, "How could he not? He sent a huge army to patrol the beaches and, after the first week, the invading forces came and were slaughtered."_

"_I see," said Nathan, nodding his head understandingly. He looked to Bartimaeus and Faquarl, who were engrossed in a game of crazy eights. _

"When do you think he's finally going to get up?" asked Bartimaeus, as he put a card down, "King of spades!"

"I don't know," replied Faquarl as he put another card down on the ever-growing pile, "You know these visions could last from a couple of minutes to a few days. Ace of spades!"

"Drat!" Bartimaeus drew a card from a deck, from Nathan's vantage point he could see it wasn't the one he'd hoped for. He let out an angry sigh and drew another, and another, and another.

Faquarl let out a hardy laugh as he watched him draw more and more cards, " I've said it before, and I'll say it again," he said as he waved his last two cards mockingly, "You'll never be able to beat me at cards Bartimaeus! I mean look at you! You've practically got the whole deck in your hand!"

Bartimaeus mumbled something under his breath and drew another card, finally! Spades!

He slapped the card down onto the pile enthusiastically, "Seven of spades!"

Faquarl put down a card, "Seven of clovers."

Bartimaeus looked though his cards and found not a seven or a clover, "o for the love of…" he drew another card out of the deck.

_"Hehehehe…"_

_Nathan looked to the girl; she was twirling her finger in the air, pointing at the deck of cards. He watched Bartimaeus. _

"Drat!" he said, and drew another.

_Nathan looked back to the goddess, she found him looking at her. "What?" she asked. _

"…_Are you really the goddess Ashera?" he asked._

"_You dare call me-" _

"_Okay! Okay! Sorry I asked" _

_Ashera let out a puff, "So, shall we continue with the story?" _

_Nathan nodded._

* * *

_So it went that the great prince Colvin became the first oracle. He led the armies of Razia to many victories; his cunning tactics were flawless. Even his enemies acknowledged him as invincible; they cowered in fear at the might of Razia's army and his genius. But the more they told him he was invincible, the more he believed it. _

_Then one day, the goddess Ashera paid him a visit. _

"_I have a favor to ask of you," she said._

"_What is thy wish? O great goddess?" he asked, as he bowed on one knee._

_She rolled her eyes, "Don't flatter me, it doesn't get you anywhere." _

_He stood up, "Sorry." _

"_Anyways, my brother Demitri is plotting against me," she began, "I guess he doesn't like the way I run things around here. But nevertheless, I was put in charge and I'll become a mortal before someone takes that away from me! Especially if it's my two-timing, lousy sneak of a brother!" _

_Colvin nodded understandingly, "So…what is it you need me to do again?" he asked._

"_My brother has developed a sort of armor," began Ashera, "He plans to use it against me. It's supposed to make any one who wears it invulnerable to any attack." _

"_Including yours?" Colvin asked._

"_Well…not mine…" she answered uncertainly, "…I think…well anyways, I don't think he was planning to use it against me." _

"_Who was he planning to use it against?" _

"_The world," she answered nonchalantly, "He was probably going to get some foolish, power hungry mortal to wear the armor and do his bidding for all of eternity. This way he would gain dominion over the mortal world." _

"_I see…" _

"_So I want you to find this armor and bring it back to me." _

"_But isn't it hidden…you know…" he pointed a finger upwards._

"_Of course not! If he hid it up there I'd find it immediately!" _

"_Oh…and uh, what's my reward for all of this?" _

"_Your reward…?" she asked, "your REWARD!" she repeated, her voice booming, "I've given you the power to transcend time and you want more!" _

"_I was just asking-"_

"_ENOUGH! Find the armor! And never speak to me again until you've found it! You understand me!" _

_Before he could reply, Ashera clapped her mighty hands together and everything disappeared in a flash of light. _

And he woke.

* * *

_It took almost a year to find the legendary armor. A year out at sea, searching from continent to continent. Until finally, out in the middle of the ocean, on a creaky old boat crewed by Razia's elite marines, he found it. _

_He watched as the crew pulled and tugged on the ropes, which, in turn, would manipulate the crane, which would haul the armor up from the great bowls of the sea. Heave ho! Heave ho! They went. Until the sea relinquished their prize, and the Armor of Demitri hung from the hook of the crane, its spike-studded shoulders glistening in the sunlight. _

_The crew cheered as they set sail for home. _

_He met with Ashera on the return voyage._

"_Do you have the armor?" she asked. _

"_I do" he replied._

"_Good, meet me at the Winnow Lake." _

"_Winnow Lake? Back in Razia?" _

"_Of course back in Razia! That's where you're going isn't it?" She crossed her arms and let out a huff, "And come by yourself, capise?" _

_Colvin woke up then, the sun was shinning out through the curtains of his room. For a dream that felt like it lasted a few minutes it sure took long. He got up, dressed, and came up to the deck, and to Razia. _

* * *

_He came to the lake, after trekking up hill, through the forest, with a suit of heavy armor on his back. He let out an exhausted sigh and let the armor drop from his shoulders; he bent down and took a long sip from the lake. _

"_Refreshing, isn't it?" asked a dark, cold voice._

_Colvin immediately stood up and drew his sword; he pointed it at the stranger, "Who are you?"_

_The stranger stepped forward, "I am Demitri" _

"_D-Demitri?" Colvin asked, still not lowering her sword. _

_The stranger chuckled quietly as he walked into the water, to Colvin's surprise, the water did not touch him, and he trod on water as if it was no big deal at all. He stopped, nearly touching the point of Colvin's sword. _

"_Put that away," he said, as he pushed the sword down with one finger, "I'm not here to do you harm"_

"_What are you here for then?" Colvin asked, as he sheathed his sword. He didn't want to listen to the dark god; he just thought it didn't make much sense to try using a sword, a mortal weapon, against a god._

"_I'm here to make a proposal," he said, "One that you would do well not to refuse." _

"…_And if I do?" Colvin asked._

"_Well, listen to it first before you make up your mind," said the dark god, he gave a smirk, Colvin flinched. _

"_You want your armor back?" he asked._

"_No," said Demitri, "actually I want you to have it." _

"…_Really?" _

"_Yes," Demitri began to pace around, "You see, I need someone on this world to do my bidding while I battle my sister in the heavens. Someone with talent, with cunning, with strength and influence."_

_Colvin chuckled, "And you want me?" _

"_Well, why not?" asked Demitri, "You're powerful, intelligent, you've led campaigns that the gods themselves couldn't compare to." _

"_Well…"  
_

"_I've been watching you, Prince Colvin," he said, "You have everything it takes to be ruler of this world." _

"_Ruler…of the world…?" _

"_Yes, here, let me show you something…" _

_He pointed a finger at an empty space of nothing, and sitting there was a suit of armor not unlike the suit he had brought up the hill. There were a few differences though; this suit was complete with gauntlets, steel boots, a helmet, and even blood red cape. It was also entirely black, and lacked the spikes on its shoulders. Colvin walked up to it, feeling a cold, and the same time, queasy feeling in his stomach. He picked up the helmet, the faceplate was entirely covered, save for a Y like slit for the eyes. The tips of his fingers felt cold. _

"_This is my armor, my true armor," said Demitri, "Is it not a work of art? Can you not feel it's power?" _

"…_Yes…" _

"_Serve me, prince Colvin, and I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams," said the dark god, "You will lay waste to nations without need of an army, the highest kings will bow to you, the tallest walls will crumble to dust at the swipe of your sword!" _

"_But…Ashera…" _

"_My sister is a fool! She does not see your power! She fears it! She knows you can become more powerful than anyone in the heavens! That is why she limits your power!" _

"…"_  
_

"_But join me, and I will not be so cruel as to restrain your power, I will let it roam free, run rampant on this world! Together, you and I, we could rule the heavens! We could rule everything we see, everything we touch!"  
_

_Colvin listened, unable to breathe. He could feel the cold gripping him, he wanted to get away, he wanted to run. But, at the same time, he didn't want to run. He wanted to kill…_

_He wanted power…_

"_Everything…I could rule…"_

"_Everything," finished the dark god, he picked up Colvin's sword, which he had absentmindedly dropped on the ground, "Kneel, sir Colvin." _

_Colvin did as Demitri commanded, and knelt as if he were about to be knighted._

"_Sir Colvin," said Demitri, as he touched his shoulder with the flat part of his sword, "I dub thee…The Black Knight…" he said as he touched his other shoulder, "Rise, dawn your new armor, and lay waste to everything in your path. Make this world suffer the likes of which will forever be remembered in the annals of history!" _

_And, with a whirl of wind and swirling armor parts, the first Black Knight was born._

* * *

"…_So what happened to Colvin?" asked Nathan._

"_Huh? Oh, after my brother was defeated I imprisoned him in his own castle," replied the goddess. _

"_You mean, this castle?" _

"_Yep" _

"_Why didn't you just do away with him?"_

"_I wanted to teach him a lesson, no one betrays me and gets away with it!" _

"_But he still must've died!" _

"_His soul was imprisoned in the armor for all of eternity," said the goddess, "That is, until your master freed him and took the curse for himself…"_

"_Why did my master want the armor?" asked Nathan_

_She shrugged, "I don't know, I don't pry into the personal matters of mortals…" _

"_So, what caused the great flood?" Nathan asked._

"_None of your business." Ashera answered simply, "Any more questions?" _

"_Yes, why did you showed me all this?" _

"_Well…I thought I would show you how good at storytelling I am!" _

"…_I see…"_

"_Any more?" _

"_Just one, why weren't my visions as clear as Colvin's?" _

_She crossed her legs and put a finger to her lips, taking a moment to think, finally, she answered, "Eh, I just like messing with you…"_


	22. Chapter 22: Dawn of a new

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 22: Dawn of a new

"Your move, Bartimaeus"

Bartimaeus sat, cross-legged, with his hand on his chin, staring so hard at the chessboard the weight of his stare could have broken it in half. After a few minutes of careful consideration, he finally resolved to move the rook in a position to attack Faquarl's king on the edge of the board.

"Check," he called.

Unintimidated, Faquarl coolly moved a knight in an L that resulted in Bartimaeus's king's overthrow.

"Checkmate" said Faquarl.

At first, Bartimaeus was befuddled by his friends claim, but upon closer inspection of the board, he stood up so suddenly in shock that he got a cramp in his right leg.

"I want a rematch!" He declared.

Faquarl sighed, "Face it Bartimaeus, you've lost at crazy eights, poker, black jack, checkers, chess, mahjong, Sudoku, Chinese checkers, scrabble…you just can't win when it come to games that require intellect."

The wolf man took to heart that last part of the sentence, "Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"Oh, no no…well…maybe a little."

Bartimaeus's mouth twisted into a snarl, " I suppose you wouldn't say that if my fangs gripped you're throat!"

"Now now Bartimaeus," said Faquarl calmly, " just because you can't win at board games or cards is no reason to take it out on me."

" I could win if I really wanted to!"

It was at that moment Nathan sat up, back in the moral world, dazed, his vision blurry and he had a splitting headache. He held his head and turned to the arguing comrades, who didn't even seem to notice he had awakened. He cleared his throat, when they still didn't notice he cleared it louder, when that didn't work he just resolved to calling them.

"Hey guys!" he called.

The two turned their heads, finally noticing him, "Oh, you're up"

"Yes…I am."

"How was your vision?" asked Faquarl, "I remember the old oracle, she used to faint like that all the time."

"Was the old oracle, perhaps an old laguz crow?" Nathan asked

"What? Oh no, only humans can-"

Suddenly Bartimaeus burst out in laughter, "That old crow? Never! She wouldn't have the patience to be an oracle!"

"But she's the one who gave me the stone."

"She was the stone's keeper," said Faquarl, "She was to take care of it until the new one came along."

"But…she said things about the future."

He shrugged, "probably some rubbish she got off a fortune cookie or something."

Nathan stood there for a moment, his gaze wandered to the armor. Faquarl followed it; "I guess you should be on your way now."

"Yes, my master is waiting."

There was a moments pause, before Bartimaeus said, "Well, don't get all mushy. Sentimentality is very overrated."

"Okay…fine," said Nathan.

"Besides, we may see again," said Faquarl, "After all, who knows what other powerful relics the mad king Ashnard will desire?" He reached his hand out to him, "I wish you the best of luck."

Nathan nodded solemnly and shook the hand.

"Wait, how are you going to carry that?" asked Bartimaeus, indicating the armor, "last I checked you weren't a muscle bound brigand."

Nathan also glanced at it, "Er…"

"I guess I have to do that for you huh?"

"…Umm…if you'd be so kind?"

The wolf man sighed, took his laguz form, and hauled the armor out of the chamber. Nathan followed, but as he came out of the doorway Faquarl called back to him.

"Tell madam Mae I said hello, will you?" he asked.

"Sure," Nathan called back, "I'll be sure she knows."

Faquarl raised his had to them, as a final gesture of farewell. With that, Nathan and Bartimaeus ascended up onto the surface to rejoin the living.

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Ashnard inspected the Black Knight from atop the throne of Crimea, sporting his new armor. The invincible armor of Demitri, with this and the medallion Tellius would surly falls to its knees before him.

As if on cue, the Black Knight inquired about the armor.

"It is a fine piece of work, sir Black Knight," replied Ashnard, "It fits very well. You have redeemed yourself."

"Ah, you're tolerance is ever lasting milord," said the Black Knight, "again a thousand apologizes for my last blunder, I assure you nothing like that will ever come from me again."

"Mmmm, I sincerely hope so. You are my best general, so you are spared my wrath. I am in need competent men like you, sir Black Knight, especially since we face a new enemy."

"Oh? And who might be fool enough to resist the power of Daein?" asked the Black Knight with an almost childish curiosity.

Ashnard gave a slight chuckle, "The army of Crimea, led by none other than Gawain's own son."

"Ah, so they reached Begnion after all," said the Black Knight.

"Yes, it was a harrowing journey I'm sure. What with the crow king and his ravens doing out spy work for us…" replied Ashnard.

The Black Knight nodded, they had made a pact with the crow king Naesala months before the invasion of Crimea. It just went to show that anyone could be persuaded with the proper trade items, be it money or lives.

"But, more to the point," continued Ashnard, "They have a heron with them."

"I see…"

"Two," said Ashnard, as he held up two fingers, "that's how many are still alive."

The Black Knight gave another nod.

"I suppose your new task is self exclamatory?"

"Of course sir, capture one of the Herons…"

"I care not which…" said the mad king, "either one will do as long as I have one…"

"May I suggest that this one be more properly taken care of?" asked the Black Knight, "the last Heron we had didn't last very long."

"Of course, you need not worry about that. Just bring one to me."

"As you wish…"

As the Black Knight turned to leave, Ashnard called him back.

"This…Gawain's son," began Ashnard, "I'm curious, does he compare at all to his father?"

"He is young, inexperienced. He does not pose a threat, he is not like his father in the least…"

Ashnard gave a hearty laugh, "A shame! I would have loved to cross blades with someone who was as powerful as Gawain!" Ashnard then glanced at the knight, "Do not feel as if I have underestimated you, sir Black Knight. You are powerful, but if the odds had been even in your duel with Gawain, well!"

The Black Knight said nothing and nodded, the king was in a giddy mood today wasn't he?

"Hehehehehe…" chucked the mad king, "A Crimea's new army…I relish the challenge!"

"May I be dismissed now sir?" asked the Black Knight, putting a restrain on his growing impatience.

"Of course, of course!" said Ashnard, "Go now, my servant! Reach out and pluck the Heron from it's cage!"

And so the Black Knight left his king to revel in victories he had not yet won.

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Flashback…

The village of Seines was a peaceful one, first founded by a traveling group of Laguz sympathizers or "sub-human lovers" as they were known. Although their people scorned them, the group was accepted into most of the Laguz tribes. Their heaviest supporter was the beast tribe, with whom they were on such good terms with that the beasts actually let them live on their land after their journeying was done.

Seines began with such promise; it gave hope that the gap between Laguz and humans could be bridged. It endured it's own share of punishment, just as any village of that day had. Storms, earthquakes, floods, and the occasional brigands or bandits, even if they were deep in Laguz territory. But it, and its people, endured and lived happy and full lives. However, after enduring much and acquiring much, there was nothing they could do to prepare them for the disaster a couple of travelers would bring on their backs…

It was a hot, mid-summer day. The men were working in the fields, the women in the houses, and the children working at their games in the yards. It was the kind of day where, if you see a neighbor passing by you would wave and say a greeting. Or if someone came over for a drink of water you would let them in and chat for a few minutes to a couple of hours. It was a day where the kind, cheerful mood of people beat out the burning of the sun's horrible rays. It was the day the village of Seines would be burned to the ground…

…They came with the intent of the utmost murder in their eyes, and with all the means to carry out their wish. The black armored men marched though the peaceful town with the unmistakable insignia of Daein flying over them on a red flag. A dark, foreboding feeling reached into the hearts of every man, woman, and child in the village. The feeling that doom was imminent, and by the day was done not a single soul would survive.

The young boy, barely a boy anymore, strolled through the fields of un-abolished wheat. A sword hung daintily in its sheath by his side; he hefted a scythe with the support of his shoulder. The years had been somewhat kind to him, after they had left Daein on unfriendly terms they traveled on foot for a long time. They were a strange and motley group, a man, a woman, a little girl and boy, and a Serenes princess. The princess, of course, had to mask her identity, nothing a bunch of new peasant clothes and a big cloak couldn't fix of course. It wasn't an easy life being vagabonds; they hopped from town to town, working odd jobs for gold. They always were in fear of being discovered, so they never stayed in one place for more than at least three days or so.

Melanie was the heart and soul of the group; no amount of exhaustion and despair could keep that girl's spirit down. When there was work, she was the most hard working. She always found a job, and did more than her own share. Begging was not beneath her either, after all, who could resist giving a six-pence to a puppy eyed, penniless little girl?

All in all, they made it past the boarder and out of Daein. They came into Crimea with high hopes and a feeling of a job well done. They stayed in Crimea for a long time, too long according to Gawain. But in heart, they didn't care. It was the first time in what felt like forever that they had a chance, more than a chance really, at starting a new life. Though, looking at Lillia everyday was a painful reminder that they had to leave eventually. They would return her home, as was their promise. No matter how far or treacherous the way, they wouldn't stop until they reached Serenes forest. But if they were to do it, it would have to be soon. Lillia was getting weaker and weaker, and no one, not even she, knew why. Through great consideration for her friends, she tried to hide it. But soon it became clear that she was sick, it was a sign that they would now have to press on soon.

They would have to whether they wanted to or not; even beyond the boarder Daein still caused problems. Ashnard had sent reports to Crimea telling them of a bad of renegades with a twisted plot to harness the power of the dark god in Lehran's medallion. Naturally of course, the Crimean government was worried for their own survival. What a conspiracy! It cannot stand in this nation! So Daein and Crimea worked closely together to uncover the traitorous renegades, and to break their plot before it was too late.

And so, our travelers were run right out of Crimea. The kingdom that once gave them hope now loathed and despised them. They pressed on with heavy hearts, their minds full of dreams they left behind. They wandered around aimlessly just outside the boarder for a few days, always moving to "Keep the eyes looking" as Gawain so adequately put it. One day, during a meager supper, Gawain suddenly had the idea that, if they were to walk into Gallia the king would greet them with open arms and perhaps a friendly handshake or two. When they asked if he were completely insane is response was: "I may be, or I may be going sane in an insane world." In the end, with a heavy sigh and nothing to lose, they decided they would cross the boarder into Gallia at first light.

Being good friends with a Serenes princess did have its advantages when it came to politics, it was only because of Lillia that the Laguz of the beast tribe didn't try to rip them limb from limb. It may have been because she was raised as a princess, but when she gave a command she suddenly became a figure of such authority that whatever order she gave had to be obeyed. It was quite a transition from the pale, sickly girl they had come to know. When she requested an audience with the beast king lord Caineghis, he sounded relieved to hear from her and was at the gates welcoming her into the city as she came through. It was a heartfelt reunion, how long had it been since she had seen one of her own kind? Far too long, the boy had guessed as he watched the beast people joyously welcome her back to her own world.

The audience with lord Caineghis began at first light the next day. As a special request, Lillia wanted Gawain to accompany her. The courts weren't happy about it of course, a human? In our Gallia? Never! It was true, they shouldn't have been in the city let alone the royal court, however the lord Caineghis allowed it anyway. It would be interesting to hear what he had to say, if he had anything to say at all.

While the meeting was taking place, Melanie, Elena, and the boy were asked to stay inside their rooms until the king gave them free passage into Gallia. The boy had resolved to lie on his bed, staring at the ceiling until they could leave. He didn't dare look out at anything else, considering he couldn't look out a window without receiving some angry looks and rude gestures. You would think that being in a country no human in his right mind would ever set foot on would be a little bit more interesting.

A sharp knock on the door woke him, surprised, he checked to see if he had his sword ready before asking whomever it was to come in.

"It's locked," replied a familiar voice from outside.

He got off the bed and opened the door, the young, blonde haired girl stood in the doorway. "Hey," she greeted him.

"Hey," he said in return.

"Mind if I come in? I'm bored out of my mind!"

"Uh, sure"

He stepped out of the way to let her in, "Wow, you have a nice view of the courtyard," she said as she saw the window.

"Yeah, a nice view of those sub-humans over there mocking and jeering at me," the boy replied. He plopped back onto the bed, " I can't wait to get out of here."

Neither spoke for a moment; the boy was beginning to wish she hadn't come. Her silence was making him feel awkward, as if he suddenly developed asthma and couldn't breathe.

Finally, after about a minute or two more of that strange silence, she spoke. "I would like to take a walk around here sometime…" she said a bit distantly.

"I don't think they'd like that," he replied.

She suddenly turned her head to him, as if she had forgotten he was there. He stared right into her eyes; he had almost forgotten how pretty she was. Embarrassed, he averted his gaze back to the ceiling.

She appeared not to notice, so she continued. "Well, maybe if I got to know them, and they got to know me…we could get along or something, right?"

"They already knew all they need to about you from the moment you walked past their gates," the boy replied, "you're human, they're sub-humans. That's all they need to know."

"Don't called them names in their own country!" she suddenly yelled at him.

The boy looked at her with surprise, "I didn't call them anything."

"Yes you did! You called them sub-humans!"

"Well I didn't know that was an insult!"

"You…didn't? Wow…"

There was another moment of the suffocating silence. Suddenly the sounds of the outside world were very important, even if they were mane by human hating, blood-sucking sub-humans. He tried to concentrate on the noise going on outside, for some reason it began to tire him…

"…Did it all happen?"

The boy's eyes snapped open, he didn't even remember dozing off. "What was it?" he asked her.

"I said how did it all happen?"

The boy didn't answer, still confused. Somehow, Melanie caught this, "I mean the whole 'Humans vs. Laguz thing…"

"I don't know," replied the boy, "I don't think anyone but Ashera knows that one."

"Sometimes…sometimes I think Ashera is just dozing off. She's not doing her job is what I mean."

"Well, she works in mysterious ways…I guess. She must have a reason for everything."

"But why?" the girl asked, "Why would she want the world to hate itself? What reason could she want that?"

Another pause. Someone was shouting outside, a vegetable cart went by.

There was a sudden knocking at the door, "Who is it?" asked the boy.

Gawain's voice replied, the boy jumped off the bed and opened the door. The former general of Daein and the Heron princess stood before them.

"About time," said the boy, " I was beginning to get a little worried. I thought they might have done away with you as you stepped into the castle."

"No, Lord Caineghis is an honorable man," said Gawain, "he's given us consent to stay at a village north of here. Its name is Seines."

"That's great!" yelled Melanie from the back.

"Yes, it is! Daein will never be able to get to us now!" exclaimed Gawain.

"And there's more!" came a voice from the back, a voice belonging to Elena, "Lord Caineghis has agreed to escort Lillia back to Serenes forest! She's going home!"

Melanie was ecstatic, "That's just perfect! I'll miss you Lillia!" she ran over and gave the princess a hug. Lillia smiled and gave a light hug back.

They were all giddy now. Giddy like schoolgirls on summer vacation. The boy couldn't help but be giddy too, Lillia was going home. They were all going home…


	23. Chapter 23: Memoir of the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 23: Memoir of the past: Fire and blood 

And they lived happily ever after.

At least, that's what they thought.

It began with the messenger from the beast tribe, handing Gawain a letter one afternoon a couple years back. They had just moved into the village, and, at first, the people were wary of the newcomers. It had been awhile since anyone besides laguz had been permitted to come through the village gates, many years to be exact. The boy looked at them, and they looked at him, and it was as if they were a separate species altogether. That day they received a lot of strange looks from the people of Seines, the kind of look laguz get when the walk into a human town only less like an angry mob look and more of a look meant for someone disturbing the peace.

They were just unpacking when the boy and Melanie looked out the window and noticed Gawain talking to the messenger, or at least the messenger was talking to him. He held a piece of paper in his hand, but he looked neither at it or the messenger. He was staring past the messenger; with a look the boy had never seen him wear on his face before. It was a look of complete and utter devastation, coupled with complete and utter despair. Gawain stood there as if he was the last man on the face of the earth, and he was looking upon the ruins of his civilization. The messenger stopped talking, not because he was done, but because he noticed something in the face of Gawain. The boy and Melanie too, saw it and stared with awe.

The great Gawain, the lion of Daein, possibly the greatest solider in all of Daein, was crying.

It was something they thought they would never see. It was like when Moses had struck the rock with his staff, and water burst out. Gawain was that rock, and someone had struck him.

The messenger spoke a few inaudible words, and turned to leave. He too, the boy could see, was also struck with surprise and awe.

Gawain came in, the two children ran to the front door but he was already in the kitchen. He had handed the piece of paper to Elena, and, after a few seconds of her eyes scanning the paper, her face assumed the same look as it did on Gawain's. But hers was much shorter lived, and she fell on her knees and covered her face, but that did not stop the sobs from being heard.

Melanie came to her sister's side, "What's wrong?" she asked.

"She's dead," said her sister behind the mask of fingers she had put on, "Lillia is dead."

* * *

And things were never the same.

For one, the people came to like them from the moment after the incident. They had never seen anyone shed tears for a laguz before, beside themselves. So they were instantly accepted.

Now, six years later, the boy and his new 'family' made ends meet by farming wheat and vegetables. Gawain had begun to open up a school to teach swordsmanship for those young boys with delusions of grandeur, and dreams of attaining it through the way of the sword. Of course, in such a peaceful, calm, backwater town like this, it was never really serious. The boy took his classes with Gawain in the school, with all the other boys. But he constantly asked why, never feeling like he progressed because the other students were holding him down. Gawain responded with a time-honored proverb, "Sometimes the safest path is the slowest one" and proceeded to tell a story about a certain rabbit and a certain hare.

Elena and Melanie picked vegetables, mostly corn, tomatoes, and apples. On good, nice-to-be-outside days they would got to the market district of the town and haggle with the local merchants and marketers for the price to sell their products. Usually, on a good business day, they would get a fairly large price for their profits. People always asked them how they maintained such a good crop, for their vegetable garden was truly one of great profit. It seemed Melanie had a green thumb when it came to growing vegetables; everything her hand touched seemed to burst into life in the garden. Likewise, Elena had a green thumb, or rather a gold thumb, for haggling with the merchants and traders. Throughout the village, she earned a reputation as "the lioness" of the marketplace. She always spotted out the meek, weak stomached first. Then, she would pounce, and tear her prey limb from limb until they finally succumbed.

It was about a month after they moved in that Elena and Gawain had their first-born son. Gawain prediction was that he would be strong, like his father; and that some day, he would become great, a legend. A few years later they had their second born, a daughter. She would be kind and loving, and the one to become the keeper of the medallion and her brother.

The family was now complete.

As for the boy, he played his part by tending the fields like all the other boy's of his age. It was hard at first, as he didn't know how to wield a scythe and had to be shown a more than a couple of times, and even then there were accidents. But eventually, he got the hang of it and has been doing it ever since. In fact, he had even begun to enjoy it. After a year or so, he got into the habit of waking up early in the morning, while the dew was still fresh on the wheat, and get a head start on the day's work. He liked the peacefulness of it, the quiet wind gently blowing the vast ocean of golden wheat. The sound of the plants rubbing together, a light _shah _sound, was calming and helped him achieve the mindset of nirvana he hopes he'll find every day he comes.

But today was different, today started a bit off. He was late, the sun was already up and the dew had up and gone. The air he breathed was surprisingly cold, and it set a chill in his lungs. No one wanted to work in this frost, still, he walked through the fields on unembellished wheat, hefting his scythe on his shoulder, sword at his side. He was barely a boy anymore, and the years had been somewhat kind to him. But the best thing was this: they were no longer fugitives; they were free.

And yet…

The boy stopped, something was wrong; but he didn't show it. He bent down and pretended to pick something up of the ground and continued walking. Years of training came in handy now, from the sound of the footsteps he could tell that they were not men of the village; these were adept at stalking, were trained at a young age. They mimicked his own step almost flawlessly, and the fact that they were hidden completely in the wheat meant that they were trained to be hidden. These were no farmers; these were the footsteps of assassins.

He stopped again, so did the footsteps a fraction of a second before him.

_There…_

In one, fluid motion, he turned around and slung the scythe into the wheat. It hit something, making a gooey, thudding sound as he heard a short scream. He put a hand on the hilt of his sword, ready for the onslaught.

The swishing sound of wheat.

_From behind…_

He blocked an oncoming sword from behind as a figure cloaked in dark armor rose from the golden forest. The young squire pushed the blade away and went on the offensive, parrying his opponents thrust and, in a deft motion, slashed his lower body; cutting his stomach open. The attacker wheezed, and fell to the floor.

The flash of steel against the early morning sunlight, the clang of steel; another opponent presented himself, trying to attack from the left. The squire blocked the on coming vertical slash, the diagonal, but ducked the next vertical; rolled behind and, as his opponent turned, thrusted his sword into his solar plexus.

The boy unsheathed his sword from his opponent's body, and took a deep breath. Two more came from the wheat, lunging at him. He blocked their strikes, though it was difficult; he had never fought two opponents at once. As his body fought, his thoughts involuntarily flashed back to when he tried to save Melanie and Elena from the bandits, and how he was forced to fight two opponents at the same time.

But this time around, he was ready.

After blocking the blade from the assassin on the left, the one on the right tried a horizontal slash to the boy's throat. He anticipated this move, and parried the blow upward; spun around to avoid the other opponent's blow, and slashed at the assassin's throat. As one of them fell, he was still in time to block the blow of the other assassin. They went a few seconds, blow for blow, steel to steel; until the boy's opponent showed an opening in his offensive. He was crouched in a position that the assassin took for a mistake in the boy's judgment; in fact, this is just what the position was made to do. As his opponent geared up for the final blow, the boy thrusted his sword into an opening in his armor and stuck his chest.

The assassin fell to the ground, lifeless.

The boy got up, he counted the bodies; five in all.

He stared at them, blood spewing from the corpses. The black armor, there could be no doubt about it. Daein had found them.

He ran to the direction of the village, through the fields of endless wheat, with whatever strength he had left from the fight. He didn't get lost, for he had been in his field for what he felt was all his life, and he knew the tricks to keep from getting lost. He was tired thought, and each step made him want to stop. But he kept on running, the cold air searing his lungs. Run, run, run; what if he was too late? What if Daein had gotten there already? What if…the questions rang in his mind, over and over again. But Gawain was there, right? He would protect everyone…right?

He came to the village, and upon the sight all his questions were answered.

Fire…

It was like an orange and yellow monster, engulfing and killing everything out of pure spite to satisfy its rage; to satisfy its hatred of all living things.

Fire…burning…death…

Death had been here, it's stench was heavy in the air, but the worst had gone; and death had departed and only fire remained, like a vulture picking at the corpse the lion had brought down and had already eaten. The sight mesmerized him, all the light and color; at first he thought it beautiful. But then he remembered what spawned his beauty…

He ran, into the mouth of the monster and offered himself to its belly.

The heat was intense, and amplified by his heavy winter coat, it was almost unbearable. He shed it off and threw it onto the ground and kept walking, he thought he saw it catch fire out of the corner of his eye. He continued, calling out for anyone, until the smoke took away his breath. He coughed, and put his hand to his mouth; the smoke seared and burned in his lungs. He stopped calling out names and started looking with his eyes, but the heat punished them too. Looking hard and getting deeper into the burning inferno, he could now see the bodies of the dead strewn around him. Bodies of men, women, little children; and most of which, though burnt near beyond recognition, he knew by name and friendship. He did not cry when he saw them, the heat from the fire took most of the moisture out of his eyes; he did not think of how to bury them, for he knew the fire would consume the bodies. The only thing he could think about was how to avenge them…

He came to the main plaza, more bodies…but some of them wore the black armor, and beside one was the burning flag of Daein. Someone had done this…the young squire went up to one of the bodies. The cuts inflicted on this body were made by a swordsman of Gawain's skill; but they were more rigid, more energy was exerted into them, and they were wide and deep. And they used unnecessary force; they were the cuts of a madman.

He looked to the center of the square, something had caught his eye. He ran towards it, and found Elena; fallen on the ground, the blood still flowing from her body, a sword sheathed in her chest. The fire had not yet touched her, and to the young squire, she seemed so peaceful in death as compared to the other charred bodies around her.

Out of the corner of his eye, something stirred.

He picked up his sword and ran cautiously towards it, his eyes widened in shock. The face was so similar, the eyes, the hair; but it was as if she were another human being, as if she was another corpse, but she was _alive_.

Melanie…

He said her name.

She stared at him, a blank, purposeless stare. But she was breathing; her chest went visibly up and down in heavy breaths. There was blood trickling from her side and her stomach and her chest where an arrow was protruding. It welled from her temple, down to her cheeks, and down to her blouse; turning it red. It was as if she was just covered in blood.

He ripped a sleeve off his shirt and fashioned it into a mock bandage around her head. He tentatively put a hand to the arrow, but she cried out in pain and screamed "No!" He let go in an instant; she coughed up more blood and began to breath more rapidly. He felt guilt now; he had only made things worse.

"I'm going to try and move you now, okay Melanie?" he asked, for they certainly couldn't stay in this inferno.

She looked at him again, this time with a real look, as if she saw him there for the first time. "…Closer…" she said.

He bent down, almost a hair's breath away from her face. He could see her now, he gazed into her sparkling eyes; even dying they never lost that lively sparkle. The blood running from her temple did not impair her beauty in the least…

She spoke in a faint voice, "D…Daein…"

"I know," said the boy, "I know."

But she continued, "T…they…attacked…they…wanted the…medallion…Gawain…"

Yes Gawain, suddenly the boy came to the realization that he didn't see Gawain's body; perhaps he had escaped after all.

"What happened to Gawain?" asked the young squire, "did he escape?"

Melanie shook her head, his heart sank; "Then…he's dead?" he asked.

Again she shook her head, "G-Gawain…"

"Yes?"

"H-he…killed…Elena…"

The young squire couldn't believe his ears, "W-what?"

"H-he…k-killed…e-e-everyone," said the dying girl, "h-he…tried…to kill…me…"

The young squire held his head, he was getting a headache and it wasn't from the smoke. Gawain, the man he looked up to, the man that treated him like a son, a murderer. It was too hard to believe, and yet, he knew it to be true. The mad slashes on the bodies, they were his doing. Everyone here was slain by his blade, Elena, Melanie, even his own children probably…

Melanie coughed, then vomited blood; a great puddle of it formed next to her, some of it expanding and soaking into her burned and already blood stained clothes.

The young squire called to her, "Melanie, Melanie!" he held her head, the girl looked into his eyes, and him into his.

"I-I…"

"Don't speak," said the young squire, "Save your strength."

But she persisted, "I-I…I…"

"Please Melanie," he begged her, "Please stop…"

But she persisted even so, "I-I…I…I…L-l…I…L…Lo…Lo…"

Then her eyes, the sweet, beautiful blue eyes, went blank. The spark in them extinguished, like a candle snuffing itself out. Her head turned to one side, her body went limp; her mouth hung open, frozen, still trying to utter those last words.

The young squire stood and said nothing; no tear came to his eye, nor any anger or hate in his heart; that would come later. Now there was nothing, he was a hollow shell, a lifeless doll. The sound of the flames did not reach is ears, nor the smell of the smoke, nor the feel of the searing heat on his skin. All he could do was see, and all he could do was stare at the body of his most beloved. The flames licked her nightgown, and it caught fire. He watched as the monster-scavenger began to consume the corpse, it's red and orange colors dancing and burning her once precious skin; burning away the milk white nightgown, the lifeless blue eyes, the golden hair.

He turned and walked out of the inferno, letting the past die away; letting the final moments of his boy hood burn away until nothing was left but ash.

He kept walking, all through the day and into the night and into the next day; until he finally came to a stream and collapsed into the never-ending bliss of unconsciousness.


End file.
